


The Year That Was

by Rosemary3107



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-16
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2019-04-23 15:04:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 40,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14335068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosemary3107/pseuds/Rosemary3107
Summary: Lily Evans returns to Hogwarts in her sixth year, all set to enjoy watching the Wizarding Tournament. But fate has something else in store for her and she gets selected as the champion from Hogwarts. Join Lily on her journey to win the tournament as she handles schoolwork and tournament tasks, all the while, unknowingly, falling for James Potter.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Just in case you were wondering how Lily can participate in the tournament even though she's not seventeen... Well, I don't really have an answer for you except that maybe the age rule was made a few years later due to the increased number of deaths during the tournament. Anyways, Enjoy!

Prologue

"Severus! Severus, wake up! Sev…" She could see his body lying on the ground in front of her but she felt like she could do nothing. She was stuck. Then came in another figure, a boy with a devilishly handsome face, and pointed a wand at the body as if about to cast a spell. Somewhere in the back, someone was shouting obscenities but the boy didn't hear them. He muttered a spell. A light started coming out of his wand and—that's not possible, thought Lily. This has happened before…. She has gone through all of this before…. It has haunted her dreams before… Was this a dream? No—it felt more real like she was there again.

Lily tried opening her eyes not once, not twice, but five times before giving up. She was stuck in her worst memory, a memory which she had tried so hard to forget. She could do nothing but give up and wonder how things would be if she survived. But a small part of her didn't want to give up. It was trying to tell her something like it knew something the other part of her didn't. And then it clicked.

The scene around her changed. Now, the body of Severus was no more on the ground. It was replaced by the body of that irritating boy with that irritating smile that she had fallen in love with. He lay there, still, surrounded by dementors. A small, white, shining ball of light started escaping his mouth. "The dementor's kiss," Lily thought aloud. This couldn't possibly be a memory. This had never happened before. It couldn't be a dream, it felt too real.

Real.

This was real. James Potter was dying.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1: Anchovies and Hamburgers

31st October, 1976

"Um… those really are lovely anchovies, but I don't think I want any… thanks anyway!" Lily mumbled as she woke up to a weird flapping sound that she thought resembled a helicopter's.

Why are there helicopters around? That's a muggle thing, isn't it? Oh well…. Those anchovies really were something…. Dream me should have bought some.

The sound continued as she felt some liquid flowing down her chin and all over her shirt. There she was – Lily Evans, 6th year Gryffindor Prefect, soon to be Head Girl for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry – hair unruly, drool flowing down her school uniform.

Where is everyone else? And WHAT is that sound?! Ugh.

She walked over to her window and was astonished to find a huge horse-led carriage landing from its sky terrain in front of the Main Gate of the school.

What the…. OH SHIT I'M LATE!

She sprinted over to the bathroom to brush her teeth and get the drool off her chin because, come on, she can't have the cute boys from Durmstrang having a drool-filled first impression of her now, can she? Her classes that day had been so taxing that she had fallen asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow after lunch. As quickly as she could manage, she put on her school robes and ran down the stairs, not stopping till she was a sight to be seen in the already full Great Hall.

"I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and-" Dumbledore stopped mid speech as Lily entered the Great Hall with her red hair sticking out in places. A mess that could only be rivalled by her nemesis, James Potter. "Well, it seems that we are welcoming some of our own too," he continued with his mouth twitching as he tried not to smile. Lily tried as hard as she could to walk to the table unnoticed. But perhaps the Fates hated her too much. She tripped face-first over her own shoelaces.

Yay! Can this day get any worse?

Oh, of course, it can.

James Potter had walked over. He offered her his hand and she blatantly ignored it. She got up on her own and started walking towards her table again. If you looked closely enough, you could see smoke coming out of her ears. She took a seat between her best friends and roommates Marlene McKinnon and Alice Prewitt and sent Potter a glare for good measure. He winked and took his own seat with his friends.

"As I was saying, I trust and hope that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable," Professor Dumbledore went on, "the tournament will officially begin right after this feast where I invite to dig in!" He sat down to the sound of a marvellous applause.

The food, as it usually was, was fantastic. The usual roast beef and treacle tart for Halloween were accompanied by dishes from America, France and Bulgaria, probably to make the exchange students more comfortable. Lily looked around the Hall to find the kids from Beauxbatons being very picky as they filled their plates on the Ravenclaw table. What brats! The girls and boys from Durmstrang were fraternizing with the Slytherins, heavens knew why, and those from Ilvermorny sat at the Hufflepuff table, leaving only the Gryffindor table bare.

"I'm so excited for the tournament!" said Mary Macdonald, Lily's 3rd roommate. "I wonder who Hogwarts champion will be…"

It wasn't just Mary who seemed to be wondering that. The entire length of the table had a buzz of tremendous energy and anticipation. Everyone was waiting for the real tournament to start. Well, everyone except for Lily. She thought the Wizarding Tournament was a suicide mission. She had decided against it as soon as she read about it in her 3rd year. It really was time that the Ministry banned it. Teenagers taking part in those absurd tasks! It's a wonder only one of the past participants died!

"It's obviously not going to be the fail-safe Lily Evans this time," smirked James as she watched Lily lost in her thoughts.

"Even if it's not me, it's definitely not going to be you," replied Lily with a swing of her fork.

"We don't know that now, do we? Based on what I know you to be and how your expressions changed when Mary said what she did, you think that the tournament is a suicide mission."

"So what if I do? It is a completely ridiculous thing! People have died doing this."

"Oh, I know. That's what makes it worth it. It's do or die, isn't it?"

"Yeah, yeah. Keep your YOLO philosophies to yourself. I think it's stupid for anyone to even think of putting their name in the Goblet of Fire, much less take part in those god forsaken tasks… Ooh, are those anchovies? Yum. Pass them around, would you?"

She was right. James knew she was right. His YOLO philosophies often did land him in some unfortunate circumstances. Like being at the end of Lily's very wand a billion times last year. Ending up being chased by unicorns just last year. Probably dying while participating in the Wizarding Tournament. Oh, the list was endless! But it gave him joy. It gave him gratification. He lived the way he wanted, not listening to his parents, his friends - not even Sirius - and especially not Lily Evans.

Aah, Lily Evans. The amazing Lily Evans. The Lily Evans he thought about every time he did those crazy things. He probably did those things because she said not to. She asked him not to ask her out, he did and he ended up being cursed a billion times the previous year. She commanded him not to go near those unicorns last year at Care of the Magical Creatures, but of course he did. Now she was telling him not to take part in the tournament, but he would, because he could, and because he loved that rush.

He sat there in his seat between his best friends Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. Peter Pettigrew, his other best friend, was knocked out in the Hospital Wing after some unfortunate encounter with some nifflers (don't ask). His half eaten hamburger sat on his plate as he looked around.

Man, there Americans should come here more often. Bring with them some more fries and burgers!

"Prongs, are you eating that burger?" asked Sirius as he stared lustfully at James' hamburger.

"Yes I am. If you want another one, take one from the Ravenclaw table since you've already finished the ones on this table."

"Sirius, I don't think you should eat anything else," said Remus, "look at your trouser buttons, they're already threatening to come off."

Sirius looked down at his trousers, shrugged and picked up some anchovies. Remus just sighed and dug into his own treacle tart.

James quickly tuned out the sound of Sirius eating like a hooligan and turned his attention to the redhead sitting across from him. She still looked astonishing with her hair in a frizzing about. He had always thought that there was no reason for her hatred towards him. In his opinion, he was always rather well-behaved and charming around her. He specially tried to tame his hair when he knew he had 1st period with her – a wasted gesture because his hair always turned back into the usual nightmare.

Things used to be so good. The entire 6th year of Gryffindor used to be inseparable. They used to be best friends. Lily and Sirius and James and Marlene. They had normal conversations up until a day in 5th year, the day she had to choose.

But James does sometimes stare at Lily during Potions class– when the steam turns her already curly hair into a bush – and he hopes she doesn't notice his disappointed expression every time she says 'no.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Review please? :)


	3. Death by Fork

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hola, readers! Chapter 2 is up now! It's rather exciting – the anchovies make another appearance. And everyone's prepared to kill one another. Please read and review! Seriously, this team could do well with some advice. Anyhoo, enjoy!

Chapter 2: Death by Fork

31st October, 1976

He is staring at me. He is staring at me again, and I have had enough of it. Doesn't he have anything else to do?! UGH. Why does he care if I'm talking to my friends? Can't a girl have a conversation with her best friends in peace? Well, the best friends that forgot to wake her and whom she's mad at right now, but that does not matter! They are my best friends and I will talk to them! I don't care what that douche thinks.

"Lily? Are you listening?" said my best friend in our group of 4, Marlene.

"Yeah, yeah I am - yeah, the anchovies really are good this evening, right?"

"Yes, they are, but that's not what I was talking about. I was talking about how I wanted to put my name in the Goblet of Fire."

"You what? Are you insane? MARLENE GRACE MCKINNON YOU WILL NOT PUT YOUR NAME IN THAT POTTY HOLE AS LONG AS I AM ALIVE, YOU GET THAT?!" yes, I blew up. That happens often, though, and everyone is used to it. Everyone but the new exchange students. Yeah, you can imagine what happened. The whispering, the pointing and all the yee-haw. But who cares? I'm used to it. It happens to me all the time.

"Lily, calm down. What I do is my decision to make. I think it's a brill idea. Have you thought of what would happen if I actually got selected?"

"Um, yeah I have. You get selected, and you die. YOU DIE, THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS."

"Hey Evans, could you pass me the anchovies, they're really good to-," oh God there he is. There is Sirius Black. Doesn't he notice that I'm literally steaming? Doesn't he get that my own best friend is going on a suicide mission? Honestly, no one is that thick, even when they are demolishing hamburgers.

"Shut the hell up, armpit hair. I'm trying to have a conversation here," Marlene snapped at him

You wouldn't believe it now, but they used go out. It was rather inevitable, seeing as they were neighbours, the same age and had unreasonably good looks. Marlene is the classic Barbie doll - tall, blonde and slim. One could even go ahead and say that she is the best looking girl in the school. Sirius has that incredible hair. I really have to ask him what conditioner he uses….

Though, I'm super annoyed at him right now, Sirius is still a great friend. We became quick friends in 1st year, have been ever since. Some would even go ahead and say we were best friends. We didn't have a falling out like James and I did. Anyway, Marlene and Sirius broke up in 5th year, right after the D-Day. But, usually, they are civil, today is an anomaly. Still, 'armpit hair' is a good insult. Need to add it to my vocabulary.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, now let's not get feisty here, Marls. He was just asking for some anchovies, is all," James interrupted the quick-approaching row.

"Get lost, Potter," I snapped.

"Can't do that Evans, your aura attracts me like light attracts wasps," he said. Does he realize he just called himself a wasp?

"Do you realize you just called yourself a wasp?" Remus spoke my thoughts out loud; oh, I always had liked that guy.

"Yes, yes, but who cares? Wasps, bees, stags… same thing." Potter replied with a smirk. Sirius let out a bark of laughter. But he hadn't realized that he had been chewing on some anchovies and they came flying out. It was like slow motion, everyone became silent. Eyes widened, shrieks sounded and boom.

"SIRIUS ORION BLACK, I AM GOING TO KILL YOU." The anchovy was on Marlene's nose. Uh oh, he's in trouble. When Marlene McKinnon says she's going to kill someone, they most definitely die.

"BUT NOT BEFORE THE WIZARDING TOURNAMENT KILLS YOU, MARLENE." I screamed, hoping to distract the virago. I hope Sirius has the sense to run, he is my friend after-all, I can't just let him die.

"Oh, are you still on about that? Come on, Lily-Pad, it'll be so cool. Think of the eternal glory you would get," she said with her signature puppy dog face, full with the fluttering eyelids. It used to work until 4th year. But now, it's just weird.

"Yes, Lily. I think we should all put our names in," apparently Sirius hadn't had the sense to run; he was just hiding behind Potter and speaking from behind his shoulder.

"You know what? I don't care. I don't care at all. Go die. All of you." Fine if they don't care about themselves, why should I? So what if my parents died in a car crash and I didn't want my friends to die? I would still have my stuck up sister and that stupid empty mansion to go home to.

I sat back down on the bench. I hadn't even realized that I had gotten up. I picked up my fork and started stabbing it into my plate, hoping it would capture some of those anchovies. But no, for that to happen I have to look down. Ugh, the work one has to do. I look down and see that my plate is empty. What the hell? Can this day get any worse? What does the universe have against me? Why does it always have to be me?

"Where are my anchovies?" I said in a deathly calm voice. Everyone on the table was now looking down on their own plates, scared. Come on now, I'm not that scary! I just like my anchovies!

"I said, where are my anchovies?"

"Oh, are these yours?" Potter held up 2 of them and gave me a toothy grin. That was disgusting because there were remnants of my long-gone anchovies on his incisors. "Oops, the rest of them are down in my digestive tract right now, but you can have these 2," he said generously.

Marlene looked up with wide eyes. "You shouldn't have done that. You should not have done that. No one messes with Lily's anchovies. No one." Oh Marls, you know me so well. I'm so proud of you.

The following 2 minutes involved me running all around the Great Hall with a fork in my hand, threatening to kill Potter with it. In the end, we reached the courtyard and out of breath, Potter stopped with his hands on his knees.

"Okay, Evans. Enough with the fork threatening," the fork had found its way to his neck, it was deep enough that I could see his skin redden.

I held my hand out for my anchovies, but he didn't give them to me. Instead, the little bugger took advantage of being 6 feet tall and held to above his head. I knew if I jumped to get it, I would only be embarrassing myself in my 5' 7'' glory.

"Alright, what do you want for the anchovies?" I sighed.

"Hmm… would you really do anything for them?" I nod my head enthusiastically, smiling like a loony. "Okay then. If you want these anchovies, you will put your name in the Goblet of Fire."

My smile instantly fell. Is he crazy? He can't expect me to risk my life for 2 anchovies, can he? What a dumbass.

Apparently, he was thinking along the same lines because he then said, "With the 2 marvelous anchovies, you will also get a James Potter-free month." Okay now we were talking. That was one heck of an offer. A Potter-free month? Isn't that what I have wanted since 5th year? Yes it is. Ugh. What do I do? WHAT DO I DO?

"Alright."

Wait. Did I just say that? Did I say that because I don't think I asked my mouth to say that. That isn't supposed to happen. The mouth follows the brain and my brain did not process such a thought at all. Oh god. Oh buggering shit. Oh shiiiiit. I'm doomed. I'm dying.

Why is Potter pulling me? Why are his hands around my shoulder? Is he going to attack me now? Yeah. I think he is. Oh don't think you're smart, Potter. I know all about your weird tactics. Oh wait. He's hugging me. Why is he hugging me? WHY IS JAMES POTTER HUGGING ME? I AM GOING TO DIE. I'M DYING. THIS WILL BE THE END OF LILY ELIZABETH EVANS. BYE EVERYONE. BYE, MARLS AND ALICE AND MARY. BYE SIRIUS, REMUS AND EVEN PETER. JAMES POTTER IS GOING TO BE THE DEATH OF ME!

Hmm. It's oddly comfy here. Cozy too. Warm.

Ew. Why am I thinking that? I really am going mad. Barking mad I tell you. Oh, he's letting go. Great. Finally. That took forever. Or was it just 2 seconds? Now he's taking my hand. He has one biiiiig hand. Huge fingers. I have always wanted fingers like that, makes playing the piano easier. Oh, okay,we're moving now. Left foot, right foot, left foot.

Looks like the feast has ended. The entire Great Hall is now empty except for the two of us. Our friends have probably gone to find Potter's dead body and me hogging my precious anchovies.

We're changing directions now. Entrance Hall – I hope we're headed towards the staircases. I want to crawl into bed and cry my eyes out. Why did I agree to this again? Oh yeah. The Potter-free month. And anchovies. It is a good deal actually. I was going to die - either because of Potter or because of this sodding tournament. Dying of Potter disease would be rather embarrassing. With the tournament, I have an excuse. Let's try and convince ourselves of that, Lily. Nice going.

Great. We're stopping. Yay! And we are going towards the Goblet of Fire. Yay! And Potter is searching his robe pockets. Yay! And he is writing my name. YAYYYYY! And now he's giving it to me. And I think I'm supposed to go and put it in. YAYYYYYYY!

"There you two are. We were wondering where Lily must have gone to bury you, James." YES! THEY'VE FOUND US NOW I CAN HIDE THIS STUPID PARCHMENT!

"Evans, don't even try to get rid of the parchment. I will check your pockets before we leave," Potter said, not even turning to look at me. Man, he spends too much time looking at me - he knows me too well.

"Did not even think about it," I say with faux innocence. Potter turns and gives me a knowing look and I bite my lip to stop myself from screaming at him. He does still have those juicy little fish-lings. "Going to go put my name in now…"

"Oh, so we had a change of heart now, did we?" I turn around to see Marlene giving me a stern look.

"Potter, do you mind explaining? I'm kind of busy here." I said. I really am busy. They better get engaged in that story so that I can drop this parchment around here somewhere. The wind shall do the rest. I hope.

"Alright, I'm done, let's go. No point giving me those skeptical looks people. I've done it. Check me if you want." These people really do know me too well. Living together for 6 years does that.

"Yes, I think I will," of course it's you, Potter. Who else would it be? Okay, that's enough. Stop lingering, you fool. Thank god. I would've blasted him.

"Now for my anchovies, please." Yes, hand them to me. My hand's right here, you know. Good, he's keeping them between his index finger and thumb.

"Here goes nothing." That's all he can say? Now come on. Give me them. My palm is waiitttinnngggggg… but they don't receive the anchovies, because hungry Mr. Black snatched them and is now chewing on them like a dog would chew on bones. Gross.

"You know what? My Potter-free month is good enough. And it starts right about now. Hasta la vista, bitches." Yeah. That's the way to do it. Way to go, Evans. That was awesome. Alice, Marlene and Mary are now following me up the stairs. This is going to be the best month ever!


	4. Lies, Lies, Lies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aloha everyone reading this ridiculous story! I know it seems a bit confusing right now but everything will work out.
> 
> Also we're looking for a new title, so please do suggest some in your reviews – please leave some for us review-hungry people!

Chapter 3: Lies, Lies, Lies

1st November, 1976

Would someone mind telling me what the fuck just happened?! Oh right, no one's here. Seriously, now people want to leave me alone? Ugh. What do I do? What do I do? How did this happen anyway?

I was so happy about my Potter-free month. After last night's events, I practically skipped back to my dormitory and invited ever-blissful sleep to come, and it did. Okay, I'm lying - I may have finished all my homework before doing that but whatever. And I might have also spent an hour wondering what would happen if I actually got selected. But, I quickly dismissed those absurd thoughts, because, honestly, no Goblet would select me rather than anyone else.

Even my morning was unusually good (Potter-free, of course), and for breakfast I had sandwiches which had sliced tomatoes, basil, a garlicky aioli, Manchego cheese, roasted red peppers and (you guessed it right!) anchovies!Even my classes were good, obviously because I didn't have Transfiguration today. I had lunch with my friends, and now that I think about it, the day passed really quickly and finally it was time for dinner.

Everyone was assembled in the Great Hall when I reached with my friends. All the tables were filled with students jumping up and down, excited for Dumbledore to start his speech and declare the champions' names. I was horrified, on the other hand, because it was now the time when some ridiculously handsome guy from Durmstrang would be selected to compete and die, and I wouldn't be able to watch his exercising sessions in the morning (Don't judge me, those guys are really cute). Anyway, I sat down with my friends just in time for Dumbledore's speech. He walked over to the Goblet of Fire and started his speech and as he was speaking, the fire in all the lanterns dimmed and the candles all blew out. Dumbledore and his special effects…

"Settle down, children. Now, I know what you all are waiting for, so without further ado, let us start the Champions' selection." He touched the Goblet of Fire and doing some spell, moved a little away from it. The blue flame of the fire in the Goblet turned to a magnificent crimson and a thick, slightly burnt sheet of paper came flying out of it into Dumbledore's hand.

"The Durmstrang champion is Aleksander Dragomir!" said Dumbledore and a wave of applause broke out for the champion from the Slytherin table, where the Durmstrang students sat. Some of them, especially the young witches, started hooting as Aleksander walked up to Dumbledore. Aleksander was tall, with tanned skin, and the way he walked up to Dumbledore and smiled just showed the amount of confidence he had in himself. (Also, did I mention he was hot?) He shook hands with Dumbledore and moved to the Champions' room with the Durmstrang headmaster, Boris Ivaylo.

The flame turned crimson again and a thin blue wrinkled and slightly burnt piece of parchment came flying out and Dumbledore caught it. "The champion from Beauxbatons is Edouard Leroy!" and again started the applauding and the hooting as a really pretty (and I mean pretty!) boy got up from the Ravenclaw table and moved towards Dumbledore. He shook hands with him and left with the Headmistress of Beauxbatons, Ines Andre.

Then, from the crimson flame, came flying a piece of what looked like cardboard which was also quite burnt. "The Ilvermorny champion is Jennifer Williams!" said Dumbledore and this time the applause and the hooting came from all the tables and a few blokes even jumped onto their tables to cheer for Jennifer as she walked up to Dumbledore.

"It's hypnotizing, I tell you," said Remus.

I asked, "What?"

"Her walk," said Remus instinctively but when he looked up at who he was talking to, he blushed profusely. It's safe to say I never expected it from Remus. Honestly speaking, I always thought Remus was probably gay.

Anyway, when Jennifer reached Dumbledore, she shook hands with him and walked towards the champions' room with her Headmistress, Althea Abbott.

And then it finally was time for the Hogwarts champion. I must say I was excited. I could name a list of people who were brave enough to compete but I was a little scared that they would turn out to be my friends and that I might lose them. As the flame turned crimson one last time, a small piece of parchment flew out into Dumbledore's hand. "The champion from Hogwarts is…"

"Fingers crossed people," said Alice.

"Please let it be me…" said Marlene to herself.

"The champion from Hogwarts is Lily Evans!"

I was speechless. I had honestly thought it would be Potter. I looked at the other students, then at Dumbledore, then at my friends. Alice and Remus looked genuinely worried whereas Marlene looked like she might cry. Sirius was in shock; Peter was choking on something (Same Peter. Same.) and James looked proud, like he looked proud after messing with Filch. I wanted to kill him so bad but I didn't (don't know why).

Dumbledore was looking at me expectantly so I started walking towards him. I don't know who did, but someone started the applause and then slowly everyone joined in. I reached Dumbledore, shook hands with him, and then McGonagall led me to the champions' room. I stayed there, mostly in shock for a while, while everyone else talked and fraternized. I even let my chance to talk with Aleksander go because I didn't know what to do. There had surely been a mistake. I couldn't possibly be selected because I never put the chit in the goblet of fire. I NEVER PUT IT IN!

I thought I should talk to Dumbledore, but then what could he possibly do that would make it better. The chit was proof that I did put it in. In the end, I didn't say anything. I don't remember most of it anyway but moments later, I was

there in the Gryffindor Common Room. Ugh. What could possibly have gone wrong? Okay, let's try the rewind technique.

James Potter was hugging me - wait, why is that the first thing that comes to my mind? Ugh, gross. Anyway, after he strangled me half to death, he took me to the Great Hall where the Goblet of Fire was. He wrote my name on a chit and gave it to me to put it in the Goblet of Fire. I clearly remember that I did not put said chit in the Goblet of Fire. I threw it on the floor, hoping that the wind would do its job and help me lose it. But I guess it didn't….

"Oh God, help me," I shouted out loud.

"Alright, I'm here. What do you need?"

Great, that was exactly what I needed. James potter.

"I need nothing but solitude Potter. Go away."

"I'm sorry that's not possible. I've been locked out of my dorm."

Ugh, why, Fates? Why?

"So… Congratula—"

"Shut up, Potter."

"What? No, 'Thank you, potter'? Or 'I owe you one, Potter'?"

"Why would I owe you Potter? What did you do? Did you have something to do with this?"

"Me? Yeah. We struck a deal remember?"

"Yeah, but I never went through with it. I didn't put my name in!"

Well shit. I just admitted to Potter. Oh well, the damage has already been done.

"I know."

"What?"

"I know you didn't put your name in. I did."

"EXCUSE ME?"

"Calm down, Sweet-Cheeks. We had a deal and I made sure you went through with it. That's all"

"That's all? That's all? Are you kidding me, Potter? You really want me to die, don't you?"

"Of course not Lily—"

"Well, fuck you."

Is he leaving? Oh, great, he is. Alone time, finally.

"I'm sorry Lily." What? Okay, I have never heard that phrase come out of his mouth.

"I don't care, Potter."

"But I do, I care about you. I don't want you to die."

"Ironic, since you're the one who wrote my death sentence."

"Fine, I'll go talk to Dumbledore about it. Let's see what he can do."

"What if he can't do anything about it?"

"I don't know. What I do know is that you're not alone in this. If I got you into this mess, I'm going to get you out of it. I promise. Bye"

"Wait, you're leaving?"

"Yeah. See, I'm not really locked out of my room… so— Bye"

Ugh. Why do I hate him so much? Why does he care about me so much? Oh, God, what am I going to do?


	5. Trip to The Broom Cupboard

Chapter 4: Trip to The Broom Closet

2nd November, 1976

"Lily? Lily, wake up!" Ugh, no, I will not deign to react.

"Lily? Lily? Lily, Lily, Lily!" I'm a pro. I will not get up.

"Seriously Lily, I'm going to tickle you now." Ugh, stop lunatic, STOP. God, why is it so hard to get some sleep in this place? Never mind, no one can break this fortress. I am not getting up.

"Get up, Lily!"

"I'm up!"

"Wow, James, how did you do that?" says Alice.

"He didn't do anything. I got tired of you harassing me. Now, what is it you two?"

"We were just checking if you were alive. So, how are you feeling?"

"I was fine until you lot came and wrecked my sleep," I say.

"Oh Lilykins, you will take that back after the news James has for you," says Alice.

"Hmm...I'm not sure I want to know." Then Alice looks offended which she really shouldn't because she knows I'm not a morning person. Hold on…

What the hell is James freaking Potter doing in the girls' dormitory on a Saturday morning, staring at me in my faded Doctor Who night shirt which barely covers my thighs mid-way?! The stupid git! I frantically pull the quilt up to my neck and ask my roommates, "How did Potter into the Girls' Dormitory?! Also, it's my Potter-free month, so leave."

"Oh, I have my ways. Now, Evans, change quickly so that we can get down to business, because even you can't deny the awesomeness of the news I have," Potter says with a smirk.

He can't wait to see me in my night shirt, can he? What a desperate bloke! I stick my tongue out at him while Marlene, Alice and Mary are trying to suppress their laughter. Ugh! I tell Potter to wait in the Common Room and he leaves with a pouty face.

In exactly ten minutes, I am down by the fireplace waiting for Potter to start talking. He says, "So, Lily, I happen to know something about the tournament…"

I just blankly stare at him and give him a look while my insides are battling to know what he knows. What? You can't blame a girl for curiosity!

Then he finally says, "I know when the first task is."

I gasp and my heart leaps. Where did Potter find that out from, also before I did?! Wait, what? But, that means… "Potter, you didn't convince Dumbledore, did you? Did you?"

The entire Common Room becomes silent as I yell. Sirius grimaces and he and the Marauders quietly walk away which warns the others around about not being here while we fight.

Meanwhile, Potter is lost for words and an angry expression replaces his goofy smile as he says, "You're fucking unbelievable, Evans! Here I am trying so hard to help you and all you care about is my conversation with Dumbledore!"

"Well, I wasn't the one who went and put somebody else's name in the bloody Goblet of Fire!"

"Was I the one who chose anchovies over the Goblet of fire, huh, Evans? Don't try to pin this on me, it's your fault and you know it!"

"Potter, you promised me one thing, one thing, before I went back to the dormitory last night and you couldn't even get that right! You prat! Leave me the fuck alone, it is my Potter-free month!

With that Potter's mouth hangs open and I storm back to my dormitory, open the door and yell, "BLOODY FUCKING HELL!" as my frustration gets the better of me.

What was I thinking, trusting Potter? I can't believe I actually believed him last night. What good has ever come of trusting Potter? I've tried, haven't I? Thank God I didn't choose him over S—Nope, I'm not going to think about him.

You know what? I'm not going to think about him or my imminent death or anything depressing for that matter. I've got homework pending. I'll do that. I like the smell of the parchment and the way the ink looks on the paper. I guess I just like writing. Hmm.

It is technically my fault though isn't it? I never should have agreed to the stupid bet. I can't blame Potter for being… well, Potter. Ugh. Happy thoughts Lily, happy thoughts. Now, what was I going to do? Oh, yeah homework.

Charms… 'Cave Inimicum' is a protective spell, it can be assumed to keep enemies away—

"Lily!"

"Mary, I'm really not in the mood—"

"Lily, listen to me! Sophie Berger is here at Hogwarts and she wants to interview all the selected champions!"

"Sophie who?"

"Sophie Berger, the famous lady who writes for the Daily Prophet!"

"What? You mean the Sophie Berger wants to interview me? You're kidding, right?"

"No, I am absolutely not kidding. She's in the Great Hall, waiting for the champions. You'd better hurry, Lily. I don't think she likes waiting."

"But I can't go down there. I don't want to take part in the Tournament so I don't know what to say!"

"Everything will be okay, Lil. Just go down there and be yourself. Now go or I'll have to throw you out the window."

"Okay, okay. I'm going." Everything will be fine, I think as I start walking. I can do this. I can do this, right? Oh, who am I kidding? I'm going to fail miserably. I can't give an interview if my life depended on it. So many people are going to see this...

Oh, I'm here already, great! Time for the interview! Ooh Aleksander is here. (Did I mention he's hot?) and there's Jennifer (are you allowed to look that pretty?) and that's Eduard, (seriously why are all the candidates so attractive?), so that lady must be Sophie Berger. Whoa, she looks intimidating.

Er, why is she taking Aleksander into the broom closet? Is that allowed? What if she's molesting him or something? Hey, that's not legal. What the… does nobody see this?

Oh, they just reappeared. They look normal, although he looks a little flushed. Doesn't look like they did anything wrong… Now she's taking Edouard in the closet? Seriously, what is going on?

"Hi, I'm Aleksander and you must be Miss Lily Evans?" What? Is he talking to me?

"Er... Yes that's me - Miss Lily Evans - Er, I mean Lily. You can call me Lily."

"Oh wonderful, you can call me Alek. So, are you excited for the first task?"

Me? Not so much.

"Hell yeah! I am so excited. Ha-ha very excited." Awkward… Say something Lily, say something.

"Can I ask you something? Why did Sophie Berger take you into a broom closet?" Great question Lily, you just saved yourself from some embarrassment.

"Oh, for the interview. She er - she said it felt more private (?), if that makes sense."

"It really doesn't." Oh, he's opening his mouth to - what is that? What is he doing? Is he coughing or something? Oh, ooh, he's laughing! That's great! That is a weird laugh though. He looks like he's choking on something. But it's a minor setback. Who cares?

"Well I'm not exactly sure why she took me in the closet anyway, we would have been perfectly fine out here—" He's stopped because Sophie has just come out of the broom closet with Edouard. And she's looking for someone.

"Lily Evans?"

"Yes, that's me."

"Well, step right in." Into the closet? Okay?

Wow, this broom closet is really small. Honestly, it's even smaller than I expected. Wait, the fact that I'm here and she's here in front of me means that it really is time for the interview. My knees start shaking as realization sets in. We take a seat on a few stools and as she's asking me questions, her Quick Quill jots down my answers on a notepad.

"So, Lily, my name is Sophie Berger and I write for the Daily Prophet. But, of course, you know that. It's you who we don't know. So, are you ready to share?"

Yeah, alright.

It is ten minutes later and I'm right back outside with the other champions. Sophie's leaving and we're all getting ready to go back to our dorms and friends.

I'm sure Mary wants to know everything. I think it went alright. She asked me simple questions like how I was feeling after being selected and I lied through my teeth saying that I was excited. That's pretty much how our conversation went, her asking me questions and me lying blatantly.

Anyway, I'm only worried about the last question that she asked me, "So, who are you planning on taking to the Yule ball?" So, on the inside, I was like 'holy crap, I have to go the Yule Ball with a boy' but on the outside I was like "I haven't really decided yet. I'm more focused on the first task." I gave her a little smile and she bought the pathetic excuse.

I can't believe that this is actually going to be in the paper tomorrow and that people are really going to read it. What if they don't like me or they think I'm stupid or crazy or—let's not think about it.

All that matters right now is that it's over with and now I can go and write my Will, my last wish, and an apology letter to my all my friends for being such a careless person and dying because I didn't get a few anchovies.

2nd November, 1976

"Is she crazy?!" He exclaims.

"Who are you talking about, Snape?"

"No one," Snape lies to Lestrange.

"Fine, don't tell me. I don't give a shit anyway."

"It's Lily, she's taking part in the Tournament!"

"And we should care because…?"

"Because, we're going to mess it up and she might die!"

"Listen, Severus, nobody cares about that girl. She's a Mudblood—don't look at me like that, she is. And even if you care about her, do you want to be the one to go up to the Dark Lord and ask him to show mercy on a Mudblood?"

Snape shook his head.

"No? I thought not. Now, do both of us a favour and never bring this girl up in front of any one that we know. I don't want to die because you fell in love with a Mudblood."

"I'm going back to Hogwarts."

"Yes, we all are, but in time Severus."

"No. I don't care about the time; I'm going there to warn her."

"No, Severus. If The Dark Lord finds out, we'll all die."

"I won't let anyone else find out. I trust her. She won't tell anyone else. She chose me remember?"

"We'll see how trustworthy she really is."

"So you're coming with me?"

"Of course, if I let you mess up, we're all dying. Now come on, pack your trunk, Severus. We've got a train to catch."


	6. Ugh, Girls.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise, surprise! This chapter is in James' POV!

Chapter 5: Ugh, Girls

1st November, 1976

Wait, was that Lily screaming? What the hell is going on with her? Ugh. Figuring her out is a Herculean Task. Here I am, trying to help her, while all she can do is get mad at me. It's not my fault she loves food that much. Even Sirius wouldn't have traded his life for anchovies. Not that Lily is going to die. That would be terrible. What would I do in Potions? Merlin knows I only took that class because she was in it! And the fact that Slughorn fancies her and might take a chance on her - that's not going to happen with me around, is it? At least I hope it doesn't. As much as I hate NEWT classes, I wouldn't want to be expelled for castrating the Potions Master.

But really, what if something does happen to her? Hey, no, no, no, no, brain, no thinking such negative thoughts. Even though she still hates you, she hasn't really been as mean to you as she usually is, has she? That's progress. One day, everything will be fine. We'll get married with Sirius as best man and Marlene as Lily's Maid of Honour, have twelve redhead, bespectacled children because we would spend every living second making hot love all over the house, she will be a Healer and I'll play for Puddlemere United and we will live happily ever after.

"Hi James! What are you doing down here?" It's Marlene coming into the Common Room. Ahhh, Marls if only you knew.

"Nothing really, just contemplating my sad little life," I say hoping against hope that she would just leave it at that. I'm not really in the mood for a heart-to-heart with her about how her newest boyfriend is a complete bastard. If only she'd stayed together with Padfoot, everything would have been fine.

"No way. You know I'm not settling for that miserable excuse for an answer. What's going on in ickle- Jamie's liwwle brainy?"

"Oh, Marly, you know me too well. We really should spend less time together. It's that best friend of yours."

"Who, Lily? I should have known. Are you the reason she had that shouting match with herself up in the dorm? I was hiding in my bed at the time, reading some Witch Weekly, because why not, right? And then she came in, slammed the door, started screaming, and then immediately started studying Charms, not even noticing that I had been in the room and that I left it."

Yeah, that sounds like Evans alright. She had this crazy infatuation with Charms. And she's really good at it too. It's actually one of the many things she's good at. Don't get me wrong, she isn't the Little Miss Perfect that everyone seeks her out to be. But she's great at the things she loves – like Charms, and picking out Christmas presents, and playing the Piano in the Room of Requirement sometimes. How do I know that? I may have followed her under the Invisibility Cloak sometime during my sad teenage years, but that's beside the point.

"Anyway, I think I'm going to go down to the Kitchens for some chicken pot pie. Care to join?" I ask Marlene, but I just want to be alone and I hope that she doesn't have a fetish for the pastry.

"No, thanks, I think I'm going to hang around here for a while," she says but I know what she means. She is waiting for Sirius to come down so she can secretly sniff his oh-so-perfect hair. I know all your tricks, McKinnon, all of them.

I smirk and say "Well, happy hanging!" and turn to leave the Common Room when Marlene says, "Oh, and James? Don't lose hope, the ice cream is melting."

What ice cream? And why would I be happy about it melting? No one likes melted ice cream, what's the point of eating it then? It's called ICE cream for a reason. Ugh, girls. I'll never understand them.

It's time for that chicken pot goodness now. "Right, bye," I say to Marlene as I leave the Portrait Hole just in time to see Mary Macdonald rushing up to me.

"Hey, Potter, have you seen Lily?" she asks, out of breath, probably due to the fact that she must have run up 7 floors from the Great Hall after breakfast.

"Evans? Oh, yeah, she's having a fit in your dorm. I'd stay away if I were you, she's in one of her moods. She reading Charms and-"

"Got no time for all that! Bye, James!" and she told a quick "Hoodwinker" to the Fat Lady and all but sprinted into the Portrait Hole. Ugh, girls.

La, da, da, la, da, daaaaaaaaaaa…. I sing to myself as I slowly march down to the basement to the Kitchens. I haven't been there in ages. Oh, wait, I was there yesterday, but it has been 24 hours since that. So, yeah. Since the Kitchens are directly below the Great Hall, I have to take the staircase to the basement from the Entrance Hall, which would, unfortunately, be crowded right now because of breakfast.

Hey, is that the American champion going into the broom closet? With, oh Merlin, is that Sophie Berger from the Prophet? Long, black hair, high heeled sandals, and an icky fuchsia dress robe? Yes, that could only be her. I remember the time she came to Mum's Christmas Party with her crazy updo. But that still doesn't answer my question. Why in Agrippa's name is in a broom closet with a 15-year-old girl? Ugh, girls.

Anyway, I know it's only November 1st, but I'm really excited for Christmas. It's the best time of the year! Plus, it's Marauder's tradition to play a crack-tastic prank at the feast before break. It usually ends with Lily giving me a death stare, and a huge shouting match in the Common Room, but that's all part of the festivities! But, we are yet to come up with the plan since its Full Moon week and Remus has been rather peaky, and that Sirius has been finding new foreign companions to the 6th floor broom closet, Peter is completely out of it right now because of his recent niffler attacks, and I – well, I have been quite busy doing more important things.

Things like going to Dumbledore to convince him that I should take part in place of dear old Evans. But all the Headmaster could say was that "Mr. Potter, I know all about your bet with Ms. Evans. And I find it intriguing that she actually thought it was a fair trade. But, unfortunately, I have no control over the curious ways of the Goblet of Fire. So, she will have to take part in the Tournament," but I could see the twinkle in his eye and I still think that man has a weird, bizarre conspiracy hidden in here somewhere.

"Trixie, could I please have some chicken pot pie from last night? I'm starving," I say to the Head House Elf in the Kitchen.

"Of course, Mr. Potter!" she says, as she turns away she asks someone, "Would you like something else, Ms. Evans?" Evans? What? I turn over to see Lily sitting at the table equivalent to the Slytherin table, drowning herself in a chocolate pie. Woah, radiant.

"Evans, why are you sitting at the git-table?" I ask her. But what I actually wanted to know was how she knew where the Kitchens were.

"Because I want to, Potter, just go back to whatever the fuck you were doing and leave me alone."

But this is me, and that is her. Meaning that 'leaving her alone' is practically impossible to carry out.

"Is it just me or have you started swearing a lot?" I ask her because, really, she has been cussing an awful lot since she came back from summer this year.

"It's just you," she says as she takes another bite of her pie.

'Why are you eating Muggle food at Hogwarts?"

"Because I want to. Now get out of my face, you two-humped camel, it's my Potter-free month."

"A what now? Come on, you know I don't understand your Muggle animals!" Instead of answering me she says a quick goodbye to Trixie and the other House Elves and leaves. Ugh, girls.

A/N: This chapter is essentially a filler which is why it's short. The next one is in Lily's POV again, but James will be back. Oh, and also, you're favourite Game Keeper may or may not show up. So, be excited! Please review, the white empty box is right down there, seriously, do it now!


	7. Pumpkins and Dingbats

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is essentially a filler which is why it's short. The next one is in Lily's POV again, but James will be back. Oh, and also, you're favourite Game Keeper may or may not show up. So, be excited! Please review, the white empty box is right down there, seriously, do it now!

Chapter 6: Pumpkins and Dingbats

3rd November, 1976

"Aaaahahhahah," I yawn as I wake up. Today is going to be a good day. An awesome day, even. No Potter, no Transfiguration, no trouble! Yeah, it's day three of my Potter-free Month! It's time to part-aay! Who would have thought that a regular Monday could be so wholesome!

I change into my school robes and slide down the bannister in my glee. I hear a faint 'meow' as I slide down the final flight of stairs, and in my surprise, instead of jumping at the end like I am supposed to, I keep seated and dash into Alice's cat, Breadstick.

"Ow, bad start to the best day ever, but that little accident doesn't matter, Stixie! We're both fine, and I'm going to be better when I have eaten condiments that have the same name as you! Ta-ta!" I say to an awestruck and confused cat, transfixed with horror.

Whatever happens, nothing is going to lower my spirits, it's a great day! I have double Charms and then double Potions today! Also, I hope, in regards to the Potter-free Month, Potter does not stare at the back of my head as usual in Potions. Before I even realise it, I'm walking to the Gryffindor Table in the Great Hall.

"Hey, guys!" I say to Remus and Mary, who were already eating their breakfast.

"Hi Lily, you look cheerful today," Remus says with a smile.

"That's because I am, Remus! I'm ecstatic! Do you want to know why? Huh? Do you? Do you? Do you?" I ask them with a huge toothy grin and wide eyes.

"I'm guessing it is not because of that," Mary says as she stares at something behind me. I turn around just in time to see Rodolphus Lestrange enter the Great Hall with none other than Severus Snape.

"Oh fuck. Oh, fuckity, fuckity, fuck. Shitty shit shittttt." I mumble. This cannot be happening. This cannot be happening today. Today is supposed to be a good day, an awesome day.

"Tut-tut, Evans, what did I tell you about cursing too much?" Oh, no.

I make no reply as I pick up my book bag and all but sprint out the Great Hall. Why does this happen to me? What have I done? Have I somehow enraged the Gods – whose existence I don't even believe in?

"Why me?!" I shout to no one in particular in the empty courtyard.

"Lily, is 'at you?"

"I'm in no mood, alright, just leave me alone!" I say to the poor soul who had stumbled across me.

"Oh, but 'it ain't happenin', you see? I don' 'leave people alone.'" Wait, I know that voice.

"Hagrid! I haven't seen you in ages! Where have you been?" I ask my dear old friend. It's true; I hadn't seen him since the Welcoming Feast at the start of term.

"Where've I been? Where've you been? I'm always in my cottage!"

"I have been rather busy. Can't even find time to think straight, let alone walking all the way across the grounds," I turn to look at the grounds. October brings with it its cool breeze with a tinge of pumpkin in it. "How are the pumpkins this year, Hagrid?"

"They're amazin'! Better than ever before! Wanna come see?" I almost say no, in view of double Charms that start in less than 10 minutes, but who cares? I'm great at Charms and ahead of everyone in the class.

"You know what, Hagrid, yes, I do."

So I spent the next hour drinking Hagrid's horrendous tea while looking at the pumpkin patch in front of his cottage. I have spent many of my evenings in the same position. But, with me was Potter. Hagrid used to give us his cookies and we would sit and talk about how annoying the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher was.

But now? Even with our new teacher-Professor Bloomwood, even at Hagrid's cottage with his freshly burnt cookies, we find ourselves doing nothing but arguing with each other. Why? Because I am a very bad judge of character, that's why.

"I have to go Hagrid, I have class. Thanks for the tea!"

"Come visit me sometime, Lilypad! I miss you kids!"

"I will, bye!" I say and start walking towards the castle. But I really don't want to go to class. I'm sure Professor Flitwick won't mind, he knows I know all he's teaching. So, I start climbing up the stairs toward my favourite place in the whole castle, the Room of Requirement.

Of all the places in the castle, I found that room on an unfortunate day. It's was Hallow's eve in 3rd year and there was a huge food fight in the Great Hall. Sirius, being the awful dog that he is, was chasing me with lemon meringue pie in one hand and treacle tart in the other. I had been searching for a place to hide on the 7th floor, which I had reached surprisingly quickly, and had to run back and forth in the same spot a few times. That's when the door showed up out of nowhere and I bolted in. Ah, good old days.

Since then, I've made the Room of Requirement turn into plenty of things, but most of all, a music room. Being Muggle-born, my Mum had always assumed that I would need extracurricular activities to get into a good college. So, I've done plenty of things – from martial arts to performing arts, nothing was left behind. So, playing the piano has always been my salvation.

Whenever I am not in the Common Room, class or the Library, you can find me here. But, I hope you don't. Please?

I start randomly playing some scales on the Baby Grand when the door to the Room opens slightly and closes, and if I didn't have super sensitive ears, I wouldn't have heard the ruffling noises in the room.

"Okay, Potter, you can come out now," I speak to thin air when suddenly the grinning git appears in front of me. Our years of childhood friendship had me know all about his family's Invisibility Cloak. "How did you find me?"

"Well, you weren't in class, the Common Room, not even the Library, so I assumed you would be here," he says, all the while playing with his hair, ugh, he's more obsessed with his hair than all the girls in the school put together!

"And why would you know that?" Seriously, my visits here are one of my best-kept secrets.

"Instinct," he shrugs.

"Whatever it is, Potter, I would very much appreciate if you would leave, it is my Potter-free Month, after all. Plus, I haven't been gaining all my benefits of it since yesterday. So, toodles!"

"But, Evans, what if I don't want to leave," there's that bloody annoying smirk again. Ugh.

"I will hex you so bad, that you won't come around until the end of this month!" I say scathingly.

"But what's the fun in that?" stop riling me up, chimp.

"JUST LEAVE ME ALONE, WHAT PART OF THAT DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND? ARE YOU THAT THICK? ARE YOU SO STUPID THAT YOU WOULDN'T UNDERSTAND THAT A PERSON DOES NOT WANT YOU COMPANY?!" I am pretty sure my voice would have travelled out of the Room into the corridor. I'm an extremely loud person, you see? So loud, that Marlene has to pull me into the dormitory if she wants to tell me something because otherwise, the entire Gryffindor Common Room would be able to hear squeals of 'Really? No way!' or 'He is such an asshole!'

"Fine, I'll leave, just thought you would want some lunch since you left your breakfast untouched. But, if you wanted any food, you would come by yourself, wouldn't you? Yeah, you would. Anyway, sorry for troubling you, bye." He turned on his heel and left the room. That's it? No 'Come on, Evans, it was just a joke' or 'Who doesn't want my company'? That's queer. Is he up to something? Or maybe he's just started seeing sense. Oh, who am I kidding? This is James Head-inflated-to-a-thousand-times-its-normal-size Potter we're talking about. But, at least he's gone. Now, back to my piano…

I restart my scales when my super sensitive ears picked up the noise of the door opening and closing again. Without turning around or pausing playing, I sneer, "I thought I told you to leave, Potter!"

"It's not that imbecile, Lily." Oh, fuck. How is every one finding me? This is supposed to be a top-secret hideout!

"Get out, Severus. I think I've made it sufficiently clear on countless occasions that I do not want to talk to you." Honestly, don't people understand that I don't want to have anything to do with them? I realise that boys' hypothalamus is smaller than girls' but that does not have any effect on their reasoning and understanding!

"Lily, I did not come here to apologize or beg you for forgiveness, I came here to tell you not to take part in the Wizarding Tournament."

"Really, and why would that be? Wouldn't you be happier, having one less Mudblood to kill because everyone knows this is a suicide mission?" Snape visibly cringed at the sound of the insult that had ended our friendship not too long ago.

"You know I didn't mean it, please Lily, at least listen to what I have to say. It's him, he's going to-"

"I don't want to hear it, Severus. I've had enough of your manipulative ways, and I don't care what you have to say." I say all this in a resigned tone; I really have had it with these Y chromosome-d beings ruining my life.

"The Dark Lord is going to meddle with the tournament, causing very bad things to happen, I'm saying this because I care about you, do not participate."

"Care about me? If you did care about me, you would not have been absent from school for an entire month doing Merlin-knows-what with you Death Eater buddies, so thanks but no thanks. This is my alone time, so leave."

"You didn't have a problem when Potter was interrupting your time," he sneered.

"I did and that is - you know what? I don't need to explain myself to you. So, I would very much appreciate you keeping you unnaturally long and slimy nose OUT OF MY BUSINESS!" There, my voice had already risen to high levels and if he didn't leave now, my own vocal chords would cause my eardrums to rupture.

"Whatever, Lily. Keep in mind what I said. And stray away from that good for nothing asshole," he said.

"Excuse me? You have no right to tell me what I can and can't do. You lost the right to express you filthy opinion in front of me months ago, you Death Eater fledgeling."

"Oh, so now we're defending Potter are we?"

"Stop twisting words around, you big oaf! He is ten times the man you will ever be, now LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!" Did I just say that? Did I really just defend Potter? Merlin, that too in front of Snape! Oh, God, James Potter is going to be the death of me.

"Fine, be another one of Potty's whores, Lily, we'll see where that will get you."

Before I could strain my vocal chords further, he quickly left the room. Thank you, Merlin, Agrippa, Circe, and all things magical! I owe you one!

"Now, for you, my dearest," I say to my inanimate piano, "How about some actual playing now?"

"LILY! There you are…"

"WHAT NOW?!" Whoops, it's Marlene. "Sorry, Marls, I'm a bit distracted, what do you need? Oh and also, HOW THE HELL DID YOU FIND ME?" I scream the last part because it's not Lily Evans without a bit of shouting.

"Woah, woman, calm down. James told me to come here and call you for lunch…"

"Doesn't that tosser understand that I do not want to eat?"

"Come on, Lils, don't be mean. He's just looking out for you."

I scoff, "Looking out for me? Sure, this has nothing to do with his stalking abilities."

"Look at yourself, you haven't eaten since last night! Let's go eat… I hear there are French fries for the Americans! How weird, the French are here but the French fries are not for them…" She physically dragged me off the bench and out of the Room of Requirement, all the while rambling about how strange those Americans were, "Have you seen their books? They spell 'bannister' as 'banister'! I mean, how daft!"


	8. Yeah, It's the Squid

Chapter 7: Yeah, It's The Squid

17th November, 1976

Well, I'm fucked. I need to find Potter. Where is he when you need him?

"Oi, Sirius! Where's Potter?" he's looking around.

"He doesn't have your anchovies if that's what's bothering you."

"Honestly, Sirius, sometimes I—"

"Want to strangle me, kill me, et cetera, et cetera. I get it, you can be violent. Now moving to the more important question, what's got your knickers in a bunch?"

"Just tell me where Jam—Potter is, will you? I'm dying here, I don't have much time."

"Calm down, Lily. Didn't know you loved him that much—"

"Sirius—"

"Alright, alright, he's practicing on the grounds."

"What?"

"He's practicing Quidditch, you know that game we play while flying on brooms, yeah, he's playing that game on the grounds with the rest of the team of Gryffindor, and you know the house you're in. Just because there's no Cup this year doesn't mean they shouldn't practice, we always have next year. I chose not to play today because it's really…" but I didn't hear the rest of it.

What do I do now? The one time I need him, he's unreachable. I know what you're thinking—why can't I just go and call him, eh? Because I never have and never will step on that godforsaken Quidditch ground. It's a death trap I tell you. Plus, I don't want to overinflate Ja —Potter's already inflated ego.

But this thing can't wait. I have to do it. Ugh, I already hate my life and I'm just in Sixth Year. I haven't even married a douche or had too many kids to count or divorced the douche and raised my kids on my own only to see them become Death Eaters yet, and I hate my life. And in case you're wondering, those really are my worst fears come to life.

But I'm here on the grounds now. Where is he? Oh, there he is flying around like an absolute fool. Hmm. Okay I have to give it to him, he does kind of look cute. No scratch that, I never said that. You never heard anything of the sort. What is wrong with me?

"Potter! Oi, Potter!" He's looking at me like I'm mad. I guess I am. Honestly, I thought he'd be happier, you know, considering that I am the love of his life and all. At least, that's what he says.

"Lily? What're you doing here?" there's that smile (that I absolutely do not like).

"I wanted to talk to you about the Tournament."

"Go on…"

"A bit more privately, if you don't mind," I said pointing towards the locker rooms because the whole team was staring at us by now. I guess me talking to Potter willingly again is a big deal.

"Yes, now, go on," he said after bringing me inside the locker rooms.

"Mary told me that the first task includes but is not limited to racing across the Black lake, avoiding the Merpeople and the Grindylows to steal the Giant Squid's eggs and then come back to the shore!" I was a little breathless after shouting that at the top of my lungs.

"She did, did she?"

"And by the cold reaction you just gave me, I'm guessing you had something to do with this," I said while stepping close to him to look a little intimidating. It's safe to say that that did not work because he stepped even closer and smiled down at me and I grew a little red. Damn his good looks and height!

"I did have something to do with this, actually. I'll explain—I told Moony to tell Wormtail to tell Padfoot to tell Marlene to tell Alice to tell Mary that that was the first task."

"You did what now?"

"I told Moony to tell—"

"I got that part. But are you trying to tell me that you find out about it?"

"Yes?" My face fell. He must have noticed because he asked me about it.

"Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not. I was hoping this would turn out to be a baseless rumour. How did you find out about it anyway?"

"I was practicing Quidditch past curfew at night and I saw Dumbledore and all the Professors walking towards the Black Lake. I thought it was odd so, obviously, I followed them there. I heard Dumbledore talking about it with some of the Merpeople. I guess he was instructing them or something."

"How long have you known about this?" he looked nervous.

"About a week."

"A week?! You knew about it for a bloody week and you tell me now?"

"Lily, I can take a hint. You didn't want to talk to me."

"Of all the times I've wanted you to take a bloody hint, you take it now! Honestly, James, you couldn't have worse timing. If you would have told me a week ago, I would've… would've—" I stopped speaking as I realized I couldn't have done anything a week ago nor could I do anything now. "Oh bloody hell, what do I do?"

"Don't worry Lily. You're not going to die. It's a simple enough task—"

"James, I don't know how to swim."

"What did you just say?"

"I said, I don't know how to fucking swim."

That shut him up for a whole ten seconds before, "Well I could teach you."

"We literally have one week, James."

"Well, then we better start practicing, don't you think? Now I'm sorry I'll have to leave, team's waiting for me. I'll see you at lunch?"

"Well, yeah but—"

"Bye" and he just jogged out on the field, stupid git.

So now I'm here sitting in Charms thinking 'just how do I get myself in these situations?' I'm not only going to compete in a swimming race that involves battling sea demons and the giant squid but I'm also going to have to actually learn how to swim in a week with James Bloody Potter.

"Lil, you okay?" asked Alice at lunch as I looked around for a sign of James.

"Peachy, really," I said.

"Who're you looking for?" asked Marlene.

"Erm, no one." I lied but all three of my friends sent me knowing looks.

"You're looking for James, aren't you?" asked Mary.

"No, I'm not looking for James," I said sternly. Again, the looks were sent in my direction.

"Okay, I admit this has started to become a habit recently but that's because he's being abnormally calm. He hasn't tried anything since the past two weeks days. I feel like it's a build up for a prank or something. Besides, I have a reason today. He said he'd meet me at lunch to discuss something about the first task." I told them all while staring at my full plate and they had the nerve to start laughing.

"Lily, you really can be impossible sometimes. He's finally starting to act mature and you think it's for a prank?" asked Marlene.

"Well, of course!" I said, "It is not normal for James Potter to act like this!"

"Act like what?" came a hurt sounding voice from behind. I didn't have to turn around to know who it was.

"Er, nothing?" I said

"Never mind, we have more important things to discuss," James said, sitting down beside me. Normally, this would've bothered me, but right now, it didn't matter.

"Like what?" I asked. I still didn't know he wanted to talk about besides the fact that it was about the first task.

"Like our timings. When are you free today, Evans?" Had he just called me Evans? Okay, he was hurt. I just gotten used to him calling me Lily all the time. But wait a minute…

"Are you asking me out again, Potter?" I asked sort of loudly.

"I'm talking about swimming lessons, Evans." Ouch. The way he said Evans was like a slap to my face. What did I do?

"Oh right, well I guess I'm free after dinner."

"You can't swim just after having dinner. Okay, maybe we shouldn't keep it at night. What about tomorrow early morning?"

"Okay." Did I just say that? How early is early? Did I mention I'm not a morning person? I wake up every day by the time breakfast is nearly over which is around 9:30 really.

"Alright then, I'll see you at six in the morning tomorrow. Bye." And then he just got up and left while I stared after him like a fool. What the… SIX IN THE BLOODY MORNING?! James Potter will be the death of me. Ugh.


	9. Aqua

Chapter 8: Aqua  
18th November, 1976.

Woah, is that a – wait for it – clown fish? With glasses? Why is it smirking at me?

"Wake up, Lily!" said someone.

"Go away, fishy! I'm trying to sleep here!" I groaned.

"Fishy? What the hell, Lilykins? What do you dream of?" That someone said. "WAKE UP!" they screamed.

"Whoever it is – take whatever you want and GO!"

"Is she always this feisty?" They asked. I was about to say no when someone else answered.

"Pretty much," said another someone. The two someones had vaguely familiar voices but I was too sleepy to think too much into it.

"Okay, whoever that was, I am not always feisty!" All the while keeping my eyes shut, can't a girl get enough sleep around here?

"Lily, it's 5:45 in the morning!"

Now that woke me up. "How dare you wake me up at the UNGODLY HOUR? It's not even 8 yet!" I screamed at now I know Sirius and Marlene's smug faces.

"Knew that would work," said Marlene.

"What do you parasites want? Also, how do you people come up here, Sirius? Can't a girl get some sleep around here? I slept at 12 fucking 30 last night! I NEED SLEEP!"

"We have our ways," said Sirius cryptically before continuing, "And why were you up until 12:30 last night?"

"Because I was tensed about my swimming lesson," I said quickly, "OH FUCK, MY SWIMMING LESSON!" I ran into the bathroom looking for my things all the while chanting the mantra 'Fuck fuck fuckity fuck.'

I sprinted down the stairs, out the Portrait Hole, down the 14 flights of moving staircases, out the Great Hall, through the Entrance Hall, the big doors, past the Greenhouses, and stopped only when I reached the shore of the Black Lake. My mantra finally came to a stop when I saw the sight in front of me.

The Black Lake, the Giant Squid, the fish in it were all the same. But the one thing I expected there to be was not. JAMES WAS NOT THERE.

He expected me, me – Lily-will-not-wake-up-before-8-even-if-there-is-a-Death-Eater-attack-Evans, to be up at 6 am, and for once, I was. But he was too busy to be here himself! I hate boys! I sat down on the grass staring at the Giant Squid doing all his (or is it a her?) movements for 30 minutes.

"Hey Evans," there he comes, James Potter – the Late Guy.

"You're late," I say in a deathly calm voice.

"No, I am right on time. You were early. You wouldn't believe the shock I had when I saw your hair from the Great Hall window – Lily Evans, awake before 8 am, must be a miracle!"

"Wait, what time is it?" I asked him.

"Um, around 5:55."

"What?" I screamed, "No way, no fucking way! I cannot believe they did this, I am going to kill them and that bloody clownfish!"

"Okay, whatever, homicidal tendencies aside, have you ever swum?"

"Sure, when I was a kid I did."

"Great, do you remember anything about it?"

"Umm, no, no, they are repressed memories." I shuddered.

"I'm sensing some discomfort, care to share?"

"Actually, I'd rather not, just trying to forget it."

"Okay, then as you wish." He said that in a quiet sort of way. I realized that he was still hurt about what I'd blurted out the day before. "Right now, I need you to check your terrain out because we're obviously not going to swim in the Black Lake. That would be stupid and dangerous."

"Types of things you like doing, James," I said teasingly. Oh, no. I said 'James' didn't I? I swear, I don't do it on purpose, it just happens. Great now he's looking at me like that. Change the topic, Lily, change the topic!

"I've been staring at the lake for the past 30 minutes, I think the 'checking it out' part is over." Did you see the way I evaded the topic? I'm getting so much better at that!

"Evans, do you know the password to the Prefect's bathroom?" Where did that come from? Is he even better at evading topics than I am? I guess he is, seeing all the pranks he has successfully carried out without being caught.

"Of course I do, it's part of the job description," I say. Being a Prefect came with its perks, the bathroom is pretty awesome.

"I happen to know that there is a huge bath tub there, am I right?"

"Yeah."

"And it is not frequented by many people, yes?"

"Nope, it's always empty, which is why I favour it over the other bathrooms."

"Okay," he said before grabbing my hand and rushing back inside. A sense of Deja vu came over me because I had run the same route only 40 minutes ago.

"You know, a heads up would have been nice," I said panting, when we reached the Prefect Bathroom.

"No time for all that, Evans! Now, what's the password?"

"Blue Spanish Eyes," I said to the door.

"What kind of a password is that?" he asked me.

"The Head Girl sets the password and has a weird taste in music," I said as we walked in.

"Why is there a portrait of a mermaid in here?" James asked me.

"No idea. She's always such a mess – crying and whatnot. Doesn't say much, just sits on that rock of hers, miserable."

"Oh, okay, well, let's get started with our lesson," he said as he slipped into the bathtub.

Oh, gosh, water. I hate water! It sucks! The "aqua" in Aquarius obviously is not working on me. It used to until, well, until the day I swore never to speak of that incident ever again. But this isn't me speaking so I guess it could work.

It was a bright, sunny, summer day in Cokeworth. Petunia and I were swimming in the community pool like we often did when we were younger. The "aqua" in Aquarius certainly worked then.

We were sliding on the long slide on it when I lost balance and slid off to the side, off the slide. I fell from 60ft above the pool at a great velocity.

I closed my eyes and waited for the splash to come, but it never did. I snuck a peak and realised that I was floating on a pillow made of water, and Tuney was staring at me from below. She told me stories of how what I did was horrible. She told me that me swimming ever again would lead to my entire town flooding. Soon, I started fleeing the sight of a pool, or even just a pond of water. It developed into an intense fear of water and I've not swam in 8 years. Oh, happy days.

"Are you coming, Evans?" James said and took me out of my trance.

"Why are you calling me that again?" My tongue said. My mind did not say that, my tongue did. Haven't I told you that my tongue has a mind of its own, and all its actions are involuntary? Fuck you, tongue, fuck you.

"Calling you what again?"

"By my last name."

"I thought you hated it when I called you by your first name."

"Did I? Oh, well, I guess I did," I did awkwardly. What else could I have said? He was looking at me with his eyebrows raised like I was some extremely interesting piece of art.

"So, are you going to come in or not?"

"Wait, 'or not' was an option? 'Or not' it is! 'Or not' forever! Well, I'm really sorry, Potter, but I guess I've wasted your time! 'Or not' for Prime Minister!" I screamed.

"It's just an expression! Of course you have to come in. Now jump before I push you."

"Hey! No pushing, get that, NO PUSHING. I'm coming. Merlin, the nerve of some people!"

I plucked up my courage, refused to look at the water or at James, and decided to stare at the mermaid in the portrait. For once, she wasn't crying but staring at me with interest. Okay, if James can do this, so can I. After all he's just a silly boy, I'm much better at most things than he is, except maybe for Transfiguration. But that's because he's always finding ways of pranking people with it. Okay, JUMP, LILY, JUMP!

And I did. And the water didn't hurt me, it didn't form a water pillow, and didn't flood the Prefect's Bathroom. I was just soaking wet. And James Potter was staring at me with those amazing hazel eyes of his. Did I just think that? I did not just think that. It's not possible. Come on! It's Potter. It's Potty Potter! No way, I can't have thought that ever, in a million years. Nuh-uh, not possible.

He taught me the different strokes that I vaguely recalled from my lessons from when I was a kid. Have I mentioned to you that my mom was all for extra curriculars? Soon, I was swimming in rhythm with myself. I guess I was still in synch with the "aqua" in my Aquarius.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading guys, we love you. Say that you love us too in your reviews!


	10. Mates, Then?

Chapter 9: Mates, Then

22nd November, 1976.

So, even though I pretty much mastered swimming in two days, James insisted that I still took lessons with him every day until the task, which by the way is on the 24th of November, i.e., day after. I wonder why… (That was sarcastic). And you never heard me say this but, I kind of – well - Ugh. Okay I'm just going to say it; I kind of enjoy the lessons too. Yeah, there, I said it. I mean, maybe I just love swimming you know. It's not necessary that I like it because of the company, right? Right?

Right.

I mean since when have I likedJames's company? He's been a total pain in the arse all these years. I literally have a list of things that he has done over the years that piss me off to this day.

He made me fall off my broom in First Year (That's why I hate flying).

He never even apologized for it. Hell, I don't even think he remembers.

His pranks ruined my First Year.

He was mean to Severus in our entire Second Year.

He pretended to ask me out, for a prank. (In Second Year! Who does that? We were twelve!)

He managed to turn my hair green then purple then blue and then white in our Third Year.

He made me think he was actually nice, in our Fourth Year, and I kind of started liking him (Yes, I can admit it now).

He never took the hint that I liked him, in time. Idiot.

When I had to choose between him and Sev, I chose Sev, thinking that maybe James would understand that I had to choose him because we'd been friends or so long. He didn't understand.

He caused that scene in the lawn, which is now my worst memory. He hurt Severus, and Severus hurt me.

Technically speaking, his stupidity is the reason that we're not friends anymore.

Wow, that just reminded me how much I hate him. I need to do this from time to time, so that I don't become like one of those girls from his fan clubs. But, maybe I don't have to hate him. He's not evil, he's just daft. I mean Fourth Year was precious, it showed me that he's kind and sweet and funny and just—ugh I'm doing it again. Why do I think so much?

Maybe I should try and just be friends with him. Merlin knows I could do without all that anger and hatred inside me. And there is no reason to hate him anymore; he's stopped asking me out. He hasn't bullied anyone in a while. He's been pleasanter than ever. He has kept the pranking to a bare minimum (Not that I don't like his pranks, sometimes, sometimes they're fun). He hasn't asked me out for more than two weeks now and that is a record, for James.

Perhaps being friends with him wouldn't be half bad. It'll keep the group sane. Perhaps it'll patch Marlene and Sirius up. All that sexual tension is frustrating. Remus will no longer be torn between choosing between us – even though he knows I'm always right. Peter will probably be much more normal with me if we aren't arguing all the time – you know, because sometimes, I become scary during said arguments. Alice will definitely be happy with the peace. Mary will stop teasing me for once! If all those other things weren't incentive, the not-teasing part definitely is.

So maybe I should try this friend thing, it should work. I'll ask him tomorrow during our lesson. Aah. Happy prospects.

23rd November, 1976.

"Hmmm," I said as I woke up at five in the morning. I opened my eyes to see that it was still dark outside. I tried going back to sleep but that wasn't working. I tossed and turned on my bed until I realized, I really couldn't go back to sleep. I figured I would go for a walk in the grounds, since I didn't have homework to do and almost an hour's worth of time to kill before the lesson with James.

This was really abnormal. It has never happened before. I have always been a sound sleeper – nine hours of sleep every night, in bed by 9:30, no middle-of-the-night awakenings. Perhaps, it has something to do with all the exercising that I've been doing. But, wait, isn't exercise supposed to make you sleepier? Ugh, I'm sure it has something to do with the task. It's also probably all the anxiety I've been feeling because of the whole prospect of asking Potter to be friends again. And, of course, the task. It's tomorrow. Merlin, the task is tomorrow. All these thoughts flew through my mind as I got dressed and went out to walk.

I got tired of walking in about fifteen minutes and then spent another half an hour just sitting by the lake. But the cold wind finally got to me and I had to leave the open and find shelter inside the castle. When I reached the fifth floor, I decided I would I go early to the swimming lesson. I literally skipped all the way to prefect's bathroom.

As I entered the bathroom, I heard a faint splashing sound coming from the direction of the bath, or well, the mini swimming pool. I figured it was probably James, swimming while waiting for me. And James it was, swimming merrily wearing nothing but his swimming trunks. Now, I should probably tell you something, all these days that we were practicing, we always had our uniform on because being magical people, we could just dry off our clothes after coming out of the water.

So seeing James in just his swimming trunks, well, caught me a little off guard because firstly, he was looking really attractive (yes, I said it, again) and my Fourth Year self couldn't help but giggle and drool over him, and secondly, because this was James we were talking about, I was supposed to be mates with him and this was really confusing me. I couldn't be mates with him if I was going to fantasize about him every day. So now what?

I decided it wasn't right to just keep staring at the poor, unsuspecting bloke so I alerted him to my presence by, well, "Ahem, ahem." Yes, I fake coughed and it worked. It worked really well, so well that it scared him so much, that he almost jumped out of his own skin.

"Merlin, Lily, you scared the shite out of me!"

I didn't respond because, well, he called me Lily. Argh. This was confusing me. "What're you doing here so early, anyway?" he asked as I continued to stare at him, deep in thought. God, his hair was looking so se—no I won't say it. I will not say it.

"Lily? Lily! Lily, hey!" him shouting my name brought me back from my thoughts.

"Oh - erm - sorry. I zoned out a bit," I said lamely.

"Yeah, I kind of noticed." He said with a smile. Aah his smile was so—damn it!

"Anyway, now that you're here, I wanted to tell you there's a change of plans for the practice today."

"Umm… Okay?"

"I hope you know that the first task is a race, which means you'll have to swim really fast. So, for today's practice, we're going to race. Come on in."

I jumped into the pool with a splash. Up close, I could easily make out the muscles on his torso, and his arms and Merlin, could he make a girl swoon. But, not me. I'm not that girl. Some other girl. Not me. Not me.

Thankfully, he was didn't do Legilimens and didn't know what the fuck I was thinking because I would really be sending some mixed signals to him.

"I'm going to count and when I say three, the race starts. Okay?"

I nodded a yes.

"Alright then, one, two, three," he said and we darted off towards the other end. I thought I was doing pretty well but when I reached the other side after him, James did not look impressed. He frowned for a second and then smacked his forehead as if realizing something stupid.

"Okay, I know what the issue is. You're wasting your time in coming up for taking a breath. But, you know what I just realized? You can't come up for air tomorrow. The squid lays its eggs deep inside the water, which means—"

"That I'll have to dive deep, which means I can't come up for air, which means I am so going to suck at this task," I said.

"No, you're not," he smiled, "You're can use the Bubblehead Charm for breathing underwater. Honestly, you call yourself a genius." He's right, why didn't I think of that? Ugh stupid, stupid, stupid. This Wizarding tournament is killing my brain cells.

"Hey, I don't call myself a genius. I only call myself smarter than average which – let's be honest – I am."

"Of course," he smirked in that characteristic way of his, "Anyway, let's try racing once more, but this time with the Bubblehead Charm."

"Fine," I huffed.

I did the charm on myself and then on him without really thinking about it. He gave me a small smile that could have melted me from Fourth Year's heart.

"One, two, three!" he exclaimed and I started swimming again.

It felt good to be able to breathe underwater, and I could even see more clearly. I realized I was almost as fast as James, when I saw his legs beside my head. I tried and increased my speed, but in the end James came up fist and I just sort of crashed into him. Yes, that's right, I crashed into him.

As I came up and the Bubblehead Charm lifted, I realized how close James and I actually were. I could feel warmth radiating from his body, and his hot breath near my cheek. I stood stock still for a moment, trying not to meet his eyes, but I had to in the end, and what I saw, blew my mind. His hazel eyes were looking into mine so pleadingly, as if expecting me to do something, and in that moment, I wanted to do it, I wanted to kiss him so bad, but, of course, I didn't.

Instead, I just sort of gave an awkward laugh and apology for bumping into him and moved away. This could not be happening. I wanted to kiss Potter? Oh, bollocks!

"Er, well done, Li—Evans," he coughed. Ugh, again with the last name.

I thought that this was the perfect moment to spring my question on him. I don't know why, it just felt appropriate.

"James, can I ask you something?"

"'Course, go ahead."

"You've been acting a little weird lately, no, not weird, different." His eyes widened as if he wanted to say something but I held up my hand to stop him and started off really quickly. "Yes, you've been acting a little differently, and I don't hate the not-asking-me-out-every-second aspect of it and the fact that you haven't really picked on me for more than two weeks now. And I have been thinking – not like all the time, I have other things to think about, too – but I feel like I don't really mind this arrangement. So, maybe we could drop the last names and stick to calling each other by first names. I – I think we can be friends, yeah?"

A mix of emotions crossed his face. First surprise, then realization, a little pain – was that pain? But then, all of it was masked by a huge happy grin.

"Sure, yeah, we could be friends," He shouted. Thank Merlin, Agrippa, Circe and all things magical.

"Well then James, what do you say to another race?"

"I say, Lily, game on."

And then we raced to the other end of the pool and then back and then to the other end again and back. Aah, good times.

My practice went on till seven-thirty and we were both tired when we returned to our respective dorms. I was too knackered to go down for breakfast and slept in my bed for an hour before getting up, taking a bath, brushing my teeth and stuff, and going down to the Great Hall. All I could think about on the way was my time with James. I was surprised to see him there with the rest of my friends when I reached the Great Hall.

"Hey Lil! Bed treat you well?" asked Alice.

"Yeah, yeah," I muttered. I was still half asleep, I needed my coffee. I saw that the seat next to James was empty, so I went and sat beside him. He gave me a huge grin, which I couldn't exactly reciprocate because I hadn't had my coffee yet.

I looked around and spotted an empty cup, but before I could take it, James grabbed it instead. I looked at him as if to say 'what the hell?' He just shrugged and started making coffee in my cup. I gave him a look again.

"Since when do you drink coffee James?"

"I don't," he said with a wink and offered me said cup, filled with coffee, smelling like heaven, and you know what? I took it. I didn't shriek or shout at him as I usually would. He made me a cup of coffee because he was my friend and he could and I took because I was his friend and because I could. The two of us continued to our Thursday classes with an extra kick in our steps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you think!!!


	11. Did I Blow It?

Chapter 10: Did I Blow It?

24th November, 1976.

Bloody Hell… bloody hell! I can't do it, I just can't do it. What was I thinking? I should just go and off myself or something.

"Lily, don't worry, you're going to do well." Oh Alice, always the optimist. I wish I could believe her but I know what's going to happen. I am either going to fail miserably or die.

I am currently sitting in my enclosure and I'm supposed to be preparing myself for the first task. The other champions are with their Head teachers whereas I am alone. No idea why, really. But, this way I get to stay with my friends, who being the angels that they are, have decided to stay with me.

"Alice, I really cannot be positive right now. I am going to die."

"Lily, how many times do we have to tell you that you're not going to die, for it to actually register in your brain?" Also, did I tell you that James invited his stupid arse into my enclosure without my permission? No, I did not. But, he did.

Ugh. I can't believe they're actually making me wait for my death so long. Just give it to me or set me free from this task. Oh good God.

"Good morning, everyone! I hope everyone has had a fantastic stay here and I'm happy to announce that it's finally time for the first task of the Wizarding Tournament. In this task, the four champions must dive deep into the waters of the Black Lake to find the treasured eggs of the Giant Squid that resides in the lake. Each champion must bring back one egg and one egg only to the surface. Champions, you have an hour to find these eggs and bring them back with you. And remember, this is a race, so you will be marked on the time taken by you to come back. Now, the game will begin at the sound of the can—" BOOM! A large deafening sound was heard that reverberated through the air. It sounded similar to a cannon's. It seemed Filch had done his job before time and now everyone was looking around like mad, wanting to confirm if this was the signal for the game to start.

Suddenly, Edouard from Beaubatons jumped into the lake and Jennifer, the Ilvermorny girl, looking somewhat furious, followed suit.

Aleksander the hunky Durmstrang-er looked at Lily and gave her a smile. He then jumped into the lake, too. Lily was really baffled as to what to do. All around her, people were shouting, she was wasting time and she knew it. But she was scared, she couldn't help but be. She thought she couldn't do it, but then she turned her head to the side and saw all her friends cheering for her.

Alice, Marlene, Mary, Remus, even Peter was clapping and cheering. Sirius was shouting furiously at her to 'Just fucking jump', but James caught her eye and he mouthed something along the lines of 'I know you can do it'. He did now, did he? That pushed her to do it.

Lily finally cast the Bubblehead Charm and jumped into the water. It hit her like a ton of bricks but she got over that feeling in a second. The Charm allowed her to breathe under water and even see more clearly. Lily thought she could get used to this.

Lily started swimming at full speed but after a while realized she didn't know where to go. She thought she would just follow one of the other champions but none of them was in sight. She removed her wand and cast a 'Lumos' spell. Waving it around, she found on the lake bottom, something that looked suspiciously like a tentacle. It was slithering away, so Lily decided to follow it.

Around her, the weird looking plants were starting to move and snap as she passed them but Lily still kept following the tentacle. One green plant wrapped itself around her ankle. She tugged at it hard but it didn't budge so she blasted it with her wand. Once free, she went in the direction of the tentacle.

Lily felt like she was so far behind everyone, she was losing. That's when she saw Aleksander struggling to free himself from the killer plant. Lily decided she should help him and she did just that. Aleksander gave her a weird look but then grinned thankfully. He started swimming again and Lily started swimming beside him.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a sickly green-coloured creature-thingy with small horns (that Lily knew was a Grindylow) popped up and attached its arms to Aleksander. He pulled it away and blasted it as far as he could. Lily noticed that there were several of them coming behind her and Alek so she pulled him by his arm and started swimming as fast as she could. She caught sight of the tentacle again but this time it came with a pair of Giant Squid arms. Lily figured she was close to the eggs and so did Aleksander.

Lily looked behind her to see that the Grindylows weren't following them anymore. She figured it was probably because of the Giant Squid swimming right in front of them. Lily had never seen it up close so she hadn't realized how daunting it could be. People were not exaggerating when they called it 'giant', she thought to herself.

But Aleksander had a different thought process going on. He figured that if the squid was here, the eggs couldn't be very far and that he would just have to go past the squid, which (FYI) stretched as long as he could see. He started swimming away from the squid and then around it. He thought it would take time.

Lily, on the other hand, observed some things while staring enormous creature. One, it was definitely covering some scene behind its body and two; she could very distinctly see the moving tail of a mermaid near its tentacle. Lily decided to follow the mermaid because she looked like she knew what she was doing. Lily realized that Aleksander had gone the exact opposite way but she figured she would have to trust her instincts on this matter.

And later, she was glad she did, because the mermaid had found a way past the Giant Squid safely. Plus, it had led her right to bunch of very large shapes that looked like eggs, placed on a rock. There were three eggs on the rock, which meant someone had reached here before her. The rock was surrounded by merpeople standing at some distance which startled her a little. She was afraid that they might attack.

A scuffling sound near her brought Lily back to her senses. Edouard had popped up out of nowhere and now he was very quickly swimming towards the eggs. Lily wanted to stand back and see what happens to him, but he seemed pretty confident about it, and Lily figured it was race, so she copied him and swam quickly to the rock.

The mermaids did nothing to them. They were just standing guard with what looked like tridents and scowls on their pretty faces, ready to fight, in case someone broke the rules. Edouard grabbed an egg first and started swimming upwards. Lily, without paying much thought, did the same. She swam as fast as she could, to catch up with Edouard and, eventually, did. She could feel her Bubblehead Charm lifting as they both came up, breaking the surface together.

Lily could only hear people shouting, hooting, clapping and screaming. She was still coughing and sputtering water as she swam towards the land. She was aware of the heavy egg in her hand and that made her really happy. She, Lily Elizabeth Evans, had done it! She had completed the first task with ease. She didn't know why she had been so afraid.

It looked like Jennifer had come first. Lily and Edouard were tied for the second position whereas Aleksander hadn't come up at all. Lily was a little nervous for him, but mostly she was really cold. As if reading her mind, someone came and wrapped a towel around her. She turned around to see her friends behind her and hugged each of them with one hand, keeping the egg in the other. She saw James, Sirius and the rest of the Marauders smiling at her proudly and she too felt joy run through her.

Lily was so happy that she might have done her happy dance if it wouldn't have caused her social embarrassment. She dropped her towel to the ground to show off the egg that she had brought, to the others. Her friends gasped and she looked down at her clothes to see if they were still there (which thankfully they were) and then at the egg. She gasped too.

The 'egg' that she had brought back, was rough and hard, looked exactly like, and was as heavy as, a rock. (Hence, the collective gasps.) And Lily thought she would faint. She had gone through everything so bravely, only to come up with a rock! She felt so stupid, so embarrassed, so disappointed. She'd had one job! She looked at her friends and saw confused and depressed looking faces. God, she was damned!

"I blew it, didn't I?"


	12. Shit, I'm Doomed!

Chapter 11: Shit, I'm Doomed

24th November, 1976.

"Merlin, I'm such an idiot!" I said to my friends. They looked at me with sallow faces but, to everyone's surprise- even mine - I found the situation especially amusing. I grinned with the light of a thousand suns. The sight of my friends' panicked gazes set me off on a fit of never-ending giggles.

"Lily! I thought you would be more frantic about such a situation!" said Mary.

"Yeah, it's you we're talking about," Marlene said with a few giggles of her own.

"Who would've thought? Lily Evans, top of the class, Prefect extraordinaire, would end up bringing a rock to the surface?" I said between laughs.

The Marauders made their way through the crowd to us, probably to congratulate me on coming in second. Weren't they in for a big surprise?

"Hey, what's so funny, Lilikins?" Sirius asked me. Oh, Sirius, you naïve, simple boy, you don't know anything. The other three also gave me curious glances as I let out a snort of laughter.

In response to their questioning gazes, I showed them the 'egg' I had brought up. As I expected, James, Peter and Sirius also let out snorts of laughter but recoiled under Alice's stern glance.

"Oh, leave her be! It's just a tiny mistake!"

"What mistake?" asked Remus. Aah, another naïve boy, and people thought the Marauders were cunning and smart.

"The mistake that she brought a rock up to the surface in the name of the Giant Squid's egg?" Peter said with a smirk. James hit him on the head for his bluntness.

"That's not a rock," said Remus. Sirius rang with laughter. "Seriously, it's not! It's one of the Squid's eggs!"

"It can't be," I said, "look at it! It's one of those metamorphic rock thingies."

"Okay, I'm going to pretend to know what a metamorphic rock thingy is, and say that that is not it!" Remus frowned in frustration. "After I realized what the task was, I looked up Giant Squids and their eggs in the library. The book said, quote, 'Squid eggs are often confused with rocks.'"

"Oh, come off it, Remus! There is no way that that thing turns into a squid. Look at it! It's hard and will break if you throw it hard enough," said James.

"Which is the perfect description for an egg! Just show it to Dumbledore, Lily, and we'll see whose right," Remus argued.

"Well, there's no harm in that."

I had finally got my laughter under control and started listening to the other candidates celebrate. Jennifer for Ilvermorny was here, Edouard from Beaubatons was here, and that hottie from Durmstrang, where was he?

I looked over to the Bulgarians, who were looking anxious as they watched the lake, waiting for their mate to come out. I looked at the clock that was supposed to be keeping time for the competition. It seemed that the American had won, finishing in 15 minutes. Edouard and I made it in good time – 40 minutes. It had been 55 minutes and Aleksander had still not shown up.

Panic struck as a huge wave came to shore. Whoa, lakes aren't supposed to have waves, are they? They're supposed to be stagnant, at least that's what I remember from elementary school. But this is the Wizarding World, so I should not expect all that to matter here.

Anyway, people from all years, and from all 4 schools started screaming and cursing at the treacherous waters. It was extremely unusual for water to splash around. In my 5 and a half years of staying at the castle, that had never happened.

Soon, the epicenter of the commotion came into view, the Giant Squid. And following him was the Durmstrang Heartthrob, Aleksander Dragomir. The Giant Squid disappeared just like it had appeared - with a huge splash of water. Aleksander swam quickly to the shore making it just in time. It was 10:59, the task was supposed to end at 11 am.

The pupils from Durmstrang quickly crowded around Aleksander. Groups of girls from all schools fawned over him and asked him why the Giant Squid showed up.

"I have no idea why it came over the surface," he wrapped his towel tighter around himself, "but I guess it was annoyed that all his rock-like eggs," Remus grinned at that, "were stolen. I had to go under the Squid to reach the egg and then the Squid attacked me."

Marlene instantly felt bad about such a thing happening to such a good looking boy. She sighed, "Why do all bad things happen to good people?"

Sirius started as soon as Marlene said something, he frowned at her comment, "By good people, do you mean chuffed little wankers? Because that's what he is."

"Hmm, Black, it seems like you're describing yourself," Marlene replied with a cheeky grin. The two, who were usually peaceful around one another, had begun their bickering again. It happened when they were dating, it happened before they were dating, and it seems to have seeped in again.

When Marlene and Sirius argued, it was cue for everyone to leave. Their fights usually ended with one of them having a green nose ("That's for being green with envy, Black!") or the other having constipation for a few days ("At least that will control the level of shit the comes out of your body, McKinnon, Merlin knows your mouth has diarrhea most of the time!").

"Hey, look! There's Dumbledore," said Remus before the fight could escalate.

Sure enough, there he was, Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster for Hogwarts, setting standards for white beards since 1881. He cleared his throat and said a quick Sonorous to his wand.

"Hello, everyone! I hope you all enjoyed our little task and I am glad that all our Champions are safe and sound," Dumbledore said, peering over his half-moon glasses. "As we all have already witnessed today, Jennifer Williams from Ilvermorny came in first in the short time of 15 minutes. Lily Evans from Hogwarts and Edouard Leroy from Beaubatons came in together in 40 minutes, both having tied the second position. Aleksander Dragomir from Durmstrang came in third, in 59 minutes.

"Some of you must have noticed that the Giant Squid's eggs closely resemble rocks. Your eggs are a clue to your next task, use them well. The second task will take place in February of next year, so the Champions shall have plenty of time to ponder upon them. Before we break for Christmas, we shall all celebrate with the age-old tradition of the Yule Ball. You will hear more about it in the days to come, until then, good luck!" Dumbledore said the counter spell to his wand before smiling all the judges.

I didn't pay close attention to his speech after he said that the eggs were supposed to resemble rocks. Ha! So I wasn't dumb enough to collect the wrong thing! Hurrah!

He made a beeline for my friends and I, and I was instantly in panic mode. Why does the Headmaster want to talk to me? Have I done something wrong? I knew it was against the rules to have those many chocolate pies! Shit, I'm doomed.

"Good morning, Ms. McKinnon, Ms. Evans, Ms. MacDonald, Ms. Prewitt, Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin, Mr. Pettigrew and Mr. Potter! That's a lot of names, isn't it?" Dumbledore said to each of us with a nod. "Congratulations on coming in second, Ms. Evans. I was worried when I heard that you couldn't swim, but looks like you pulled through."

Wait. How did he know I couldn't swim? I never told anyone outside the eight 6th year Gryffindors. James. I gave him a glare before replying to the Headmaster, "Yes, thank you, Professor, I couldn't have done it without James." I hope my tone conveyed all that was going to happen to him later.

"Yes, of course! The lessons in the Prefect Bathrooms must have helped," Dumbledore said. Ugh, he had to go and tell the Headmaster, didn't he? "Well, I should go now, I have some fantastic chocolate pie to eat," he gave me a meaningful glance, his eyes twinkling in amusement, and turned on his heel, walking towards the castle.

"I cannot believe you told him I couldn't swim!" I screamed at James. I hadn't done it in quite a while, and it felt great.

"Come on, he had to know! He is your Headmaster, he would have helped you!" James replied, with much less fervour than me.

"Helped me how? Given me his half-moon glasses so that I could look into the water easily?"

"Oh, come off it, Lily! I know he looks a bit deranged but everyone knows glasses don't help matters under water," he smirked at me while the others snorted in laughter.

"Ugh, you are incorrigible!" I whined, that's good enough to rile him up, works every time.

"Sure, why not?" he replied simply. That's it? No, 'no you are incorrigible, Evans, with your rule-abiding ways' or 'you love it'. Where is the Potter I know? Oh right, I'm mates with him now, so I'm never going to find him, ever again. Man, where will I relieve my stress? I need shouting matches! It's what I do, it makes me me! Shit, I'm doomed.

"Anyway," Sirius said before our fight could escalate, "you got 2nd place, Lil! This calls for a celebration!"

Oh, no. I know where this will lead. We'll have a big party in the Common Room, everyone will get drunk, the music will be loud enough to rupture my ear drums, Sirius and Marlene will make out, the loud music will attract Filch, he will call for McGonagall, everyone will magically disappear the trash and run to the closest dormitories when McGonagall comes knocking, McGonagall will notice nothing was wrong, and then make snide comments at Filch for waking her up in the middle of the night. Oh, and also, all the kids will fall asleep in the dorms after that, and wake up with sore throats and start puking all over the place. Ah, typical Fridays.

"Yes! We haven't had a party in forever! Let's do this!" screamed Marlene at the top of her lungs.

"A party?" someone to our right said. We turned around to see Jennifer Williams from Ilvermorny looking at us. "And I thought you Brits were all biscuits and tea. I would love to come to your party!" Great, now my competition self invites herself to my victory party. Even though I got 2nd place and she won. But, still, I realize how awkward it would be for us, she's American. Aren't they all macaroni and cheese?

"Sure, more the merrier," replied James, "as for that, let's call the chappies from the other schools too. Oi! Edouard, Aleksander! Victory party in the Gryffindor Common Room tonight, ask the portraits for directions! The password is 'Barnacles'!"

The two boys nodded enthusiastically, probably in need of some alcohol after such an adrenaline rush. But this party could lead to me getting excessively drunk, as I usually do. And when I get drunk, I say and do the weirdest things. Like once, in 5th year, I drank 5 too many glasses of mead at a Quidditch victory party, which led to me screaming to the entire Common Room that I was in love with my the crush, Robert Hook. We then made out for hours and the news spread to Potter who hexed the living daylights out of poor Hook. But, wait, there isn't anyone who I would want to kiss now, is there?

Shit, I'm doomed.


	13. Jam and Mead

Chapter 12: Jam and Mead

24th November, 1976.

The decorations were up in no time, what with all the experience that we, the Marauders, had. Not to sound conceited in my own head, but I am an amazing flyer. That brings about a lot of Quidditch wins, which causes a lot of Common Room parties, and also the fact that dogs are no longer allowed as pets at Hogwarts after our 5th year.

But this time, it isn't anything that I won that has brought celebrations to the Common Room. It's Lily. The same Lily that had gotten so drunk once that she thought Padfoot was her own dog (She did not even have a dog, just an owl named Beatrice. Don't ask how I know, but Beatrice loves pooping on their owner's enemies). The same Lily that was smart enough to get away without studying, but still spent hours pouring over new information just because she thought it was interesting. The same Lily that I have been in love with since 3rd year.

"Hey, James," I was shaken out of my Lily-dreams by, guess who, Lily. Of course, it's Lily. We're supposed to be 'mates' now. I think it was because she was rather sad that I was being cold to her. But it's not my fault that I can't seem to think straight when I'm around her. I was trying hard to get over her when I was all 'Evans this' and 'Evans that' instead of 'Lily this' and 'Lily that'. I have no idea how using her last name would have helped, but I had to do something.

"Hi, Lily! What's up?" I asked her calmly. As we have now become mates, I have come up with a few ground rules over how to converse with her.

Do NOT mention Severus 'Snivellus' Snape.

Do NOT talk about Lily's family.

Do NOT talk about yourself too much.

Do NOT take credit for teaching her how to swim.

Do NOT mention the Tournament to her unless specified.

"I just wanted to thank you for the swimming lessons," replied Lily to my previous question, "I meant what I said to Dumbledore, I could not have done it without you."

I fidgeted at her compliment and my hands went straight up to my hair. I was not used to this New Lily. I was used to the Lily that hexed me after every word I said. It was painful when I rambled because, well, my rants can go on for ages.

"Um, no worries, you're welcome. Actually, you could have done it without me." I replied, trying to follow all of my 5 rules.

"Oh, no I couldn't. You have no idea what kind of experiences I've had at the pool," she visibly shuddered. I wonder what she was talking about. Everyone knows Lily is one heck of a mystery. She doesn't let it on, but she has so many secrets that one day she is going to explode. And that could be a bad day for James Fleamont Potter. A very bad day.

"Okay, then. Hey, look! It's that American, Jennifer. You should go talk to her. It's nice to keep your enemies close."

"She is not my enemy, please. I just get a weird vibe from her. But I guess I should go talk to her. Do me a favour and make sure that Sirius doesn't get too drunk. Oh, and also Marlene. We do not want a repeat episode of what happened last time."

I shuddered at the memory. At the end of the year party last year, Sirius and Marlene, as usual, got drunk. They made out and ended up drooling all over each other when Marlene hid in our dorm when McGonagall showed up to shush us. Long story short, it took days to get the pink off of Padfoot's Quidditch robes.

"Aye, aye, Captain," I said.

Lily nodded and walked over to Jennifer. She was pretty - blonde hair, blue eyes, and long legs. But in comparison to Lily's red hair, she looked rather dull.

I looked around the Common Room in search of my friends. As I had expected, Sirius was down by the drinks. It looked like he had already had at least 3 glasses of Firewhiskey, and so I made my way towards him trying to rescue him.

"Woah, there, Padfoot, slow down. We do not want you turning into a dog again."

"Prongs! My man! I have been searching for you everywhere! Where were you mate?" he shouted.

"Umm, I was right here, decorating the Room with you? Come on, let's get you out of here before you throw up all over the drinks."

I started walking him towards the couch in front of the fireplace but then I saw Marlene snogging some Ravenclaw and instantly turned around. We don't want Sirius seeing that. So, I helped him towards the window when he asked one of his famous 'When I Am Drunk And About To Throw Up, I Ask Weird But Sensible Questions.'

"Hey Prongs, have you ever thought of what turkeys eat at Thanksgiving?"

"Okay, that's the cue for you to go to bed." We marched up the staircase. Well, I marched while dragging Padfoot.

"To bed? But I don't want to go to bed! It's not even ten yet, you're so boring!"

"Hey! Never call me boring, I am not boring. I just know that if you stay at the party any longer, you will throw up all over the place and Marlene will hate you forever. Which neither of us wants, do we?"

"Ooh, Marlene! Isn't she sooooo pretty? I feel like eating her up every time I see her..."

"Okay, I did not need to know that," I cringed at the mental image, "Now, you go to sleep and puke when you need to. I'm going back and locking you just in case you get any ideas. Bye!" I said, slamming the door in his nose and locked the door.

I sprinted down the stairs in hopes of joining in Lily and Jennifer's conversation. But, as I had expected, they had now separated. Jennifer was now talking to a slightly buzzed Mary MacDonald and it seemed that Lily had moved to the drinks' table. Oh, Merlin, she was going to get drunk and snog some guy senseless, wasn't she?

"Oi, Lily!" I said to her from near the staircases.

"Yo, Potty! What is up?" she said loudly as if there was something stuck in her ears.

"Ugh, I thought we were over the Potty phase!" I hated that name. She had come up with it in 6th year when she finally realized that my last name shared an unfortunate number of syllables with the obscenity.

"Nuh, uh," she said. She obviously had a few drinks down, the way she was talking. "You will always be Potty Potter. Potty Potter, Potty Potter, Potty Potter. You have such a strange name. James Potter. Ja-mes Pott-er. James. James Potter. James Potty Potter. James whatever-your-middle-name-is Potter. Jam Potter. Jam Potty. Yes! Jam Potty! That is it!"

"Jam Potty? What is that, a new delicacy?"

"Nuh, uh, Mr. Potter, it's your new name. I, Lily Elizabeth Evans, officially christen James what's-it Potter as Jam Potty."

"It's Fleamont."

"Oh, bless you."

"It's Fleamont."

"Looks like you're on a roll, Potty, bless you."

"No, my middle name, it's Fleamont."

"Wait, what?"

"My middle name is Fleamont."

"Woah, okay. So your full name is James Fleamont Potter?"

"Yes, yes it is."

"Right, okay. James Fleamont Potter. Hello, James Fleamont Potter, how do you do today?"

"Okay, enough with the middle names. I am very fine today, Lily Elizabeth Evans, how about you?"

"I am fantastic, James Fleamont Potter, thank you very much."

"I thought I said enough with the middle names."

"Well, I had planned on stopping it but then you Elizabeth-ed me, so I had to retaliate."

"Right, anyway, did you talk to the Ilvermorny girl?"

"Who, Jenny? Oh yeah, she's amazing. And she's got this awesome accent. Ooh, and did you know these people call biscuits cookies? How weird is that?"

"Yeah, plenty weird," I said uncertainly.

"Anyway, Jam Flea Potty, I have to go get a lot more drunk now so that I can puke it out peacefully tomorrow morning, so ta-ta!"

"Hey, not so fast. We don't want what happened last time to happen again, do we?"

"Why, what happened last time?"

"Um, you snogged that guy like there was no tomorrow? And then threw up all over the place? Oh and let's forget the dog adopting."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Speaking of dogs, where's my drinking bud, Sirius?"

"He's gone to bed."

"WHAT? It can't be. There is no way Sirius Orion Black is asleep on a party night."

"I kind of banished him. And if you don't want the same happening to you, you have to stop drinking."

"Oh, but Jam, why would you want that? You know what you should do? You should grab a glass and then we can see who can drink more."

"Umm, I think not."

"Why not? It will be fun, plus there's a chance for you to be snogged tonight."

"What?"

"What, what?" I could see Lily put up a fake innocent face and see all the cursing she was doing inside her head. Does this mean that she likes me? After that Robert Hook incident, I know that a drunken Lily can make over-exaggerated confessions of infatuation. But the calculating look in her eyes tells me that she is not ready for that conversation yet. Hmm, I guess I should drink with her; it'll probably get my mind of all that stuff. Curse you, Robert Hook!

"You know what, nothing. And you know what, I will drink with you."

"Yay! Okay, great. Let's see now, how about some mead?"

"Sure, whatever you want, Lils."

Oh, no. It slipped out – I swear – I hadn't even thought about it. She gave me an incredulous look and went back to pouring mead into glasses. It wasn't every day that James Potter called Lily Evans 'Lils'. He used to say it regularly when they were kids, but after 5th year, everything had gone to the dogs.

It was now my turn to mentally curse myself.

'How could you, Lils?'

'Can't you see, James? I had to!'

'You didn't have to do anything! You always have a choice!'

The last time I called her 'Lils' came rushing back to me. It was all 'Evans' and 'Potter' since then on.

"Here you go," she shook me out of my reverie as she handed me a glass of mead.

"Here's to our new found friendship," I say as we kinked our glasses together.

"Here's to old friends finding their ways back to each other," Lily said before gulping down her entire glass in one go. "LILS AND JAM FOREVER," she shouted to no one in particular, helping herself to another drink.

"Hello Lily, Lily's friend," I heard a heavy accented voice behind me. Both Lily and I turned around and stifled a groan.

It was that Aleksander guy from Durmstrang. All the girls in the school seemed to be enamoured by him – I have no idea why. Fine, he looks kind-of good, and he seems to have one of the coolest accents in the world, but looks aren't everything. He seems like a right dunce,

"Hey, Aleksander," replied Lily, "this is Jam Potty, my friend."

I gave her a serious glare and turned to Dragomir and said, "James Potter, she means."

"Oh, so you are the famous James Potter!" he said.

"Famous? I'm not famous," I replied, puzzled. I may be Quidditch God at Hogwarts but I have no idea how Dragomir has heard of me.

"Oh, but you are. You play Chaser, right? And half the girls at this school want to go to the Yule Ball with you."

"Sure, why not?" I say noncommittedly. I knew if I said something conceited, Lily would use it against me in one of our future arguments.

I searched around the room for a distraction as Lily and Dragomir flirted in front of me. Ugh, what does she see in him? That's when I saw the window.

Woah, Alice and Frank talking by the window? That never happened. Frank was an inert kind of guy. Even though he was one of our roommates; he never really took part in our pranks and schemes. But he was one of our friends.

My eyes scanned the room again and I noticed Edouard glaring daggers at the couple. Looks like he's got a little crush on Alice, or Frank. So, I guess I should leave him be with his sadness.

"Hey, Lils," God that happened again, she turns to me and I continue, "look at Frank and Alice, looks like they hit it off."

She turned to the direction I was nodding at and smiled as she saw her two friends talk animatedly about something. "Looks like everyone's hitting it off, doesn't it?" she replied.

Dragomir then said, "Well, I guess I'll see you both later, I have things to do, goodbye!"

Ugh, I hate it when people give me nothing to hate them for. Can you believe it? He looks like someone who could be extremely conceited, but he isn't! He seems like a perfectly nice guy, but he was talking to Lily in a way that only I used to at a point, so I don't like him.

"Bye, Alek!" Lily exclaimed I noticed her eyes follow Dragomir's trail. I think she likes him, there isn't anything about him not to like, but I still don't like him.

The party soon faded out as the kids from the other houses and schools left. Soon it was just us, 6th year Gryffindors left in the Common Room, trying to finish up the Firewhiskey that Remus and Peter had been so obediently supplying.

"IIII KNOWWW YOOUUU I WALKED WITH YOU ONCE UPON A DREEAAAMMMM," Lily had been singing that muggle song incessantly for the past 15 minutes and it had started taking a toll on me and the others.

Frank and Alice seemed to be in their own world, talking about who knows what. Mary was 2 bottles of mead down and as of then, unconscious. Marlene, who had been snogging that Ravenclaw for the entirety of the party was now finally drinking something and complaining about how chapped her lips were. Sirius was still detained in the dorm. Remus and Peter were playing Exploding Snap behind the couch after their party errands. Lily was lying on the couch, singing. And I was staring at the fire, sitting in front of the couch, thinking about last year.

It had been a terrible year – that Snape thing happened, that other Snape thing happened, and that other Snape thing happened. I think I'm starting to see a pattern here. Snape is responsible for everything that goes wrong in my life and I loathe him for it. I mean, he's such a dunce. He manipulated Lily for years, and I think he stole my one of my books last week – arse.

"YOU'LL LOVE ME AT ONCE, THE WAY YOU DID ONCEEE UPPOOONN A DREAAAAMMM."

"Okay, Lily that's enough," Remus said from behind the couch, he was right of course, he's always right.

"BUT IT'S MY FAVOURITE SONNNGGGG," pouted Lily.

"But that does not mean you try and rupture our eardrums by singing it."

"Hey! You know what an eardrum is?"

"Of course I know what an eardrum is. What do you think I did before I got to Hogwarts?"

"Umm, spend hours upon hours pondering about how sad your life is and how unfortunate it is that you have to wait until you're 11 to get to Hogwarts?"

"No," Marlene's reply came from nowhere. She hadn't spoken up until now and her voice surprised us. "We studied. How do you think we know how to write, Lily?"

"I don't know, magic, perhaps?"

"Nope," Peter said. He and Remus peeked at Lily from behind the sofa. "We spend our childhood learning just like muggles do."

"How come you didn't know that, Lily?" I asked her, it's a wonder she didn't know, "didn't you ask anyone before?"

"As a matter of fact, I did, but that someone had a habit of putting off my questions. Anyway, I'm going to bed now." She started to get up but was so drunk that she could not stand straight and fell right back on the couch.

"That's your cerebellum not functioning properly under the influence of alcohol," commented Remus.

"Yeah, and did you know that the alcohol you consumed is being oxidized into a compound called an aldehyde that will make you throw up in about 5 hours?" said Marlene.

"Okay, fine! I get it! You people know things. Sorry for underestimating you!"

"Thank you, we appreciate it," said Peter.

Soon everyone fell asleep, Frank and Alice included and of course, Sirius was still up in the room. Lily was lying on the couch with her head on Marlene's lap who slept in a sitting position. Mary was still unconscious in the armchair next to the couch. Remus and Peter had fallen asleep on the floor behind the couch but it seemed like they had forgotten that there were Exploding Snap cards right in front of them, and both their eyebrows had been singed. Frank and Alice were by the window, their heads together as they slept soundly.

November 25th, 1976.

"WHAT ARE ALL OF YOU DOING ASLEEP?" Some crazy person screamed. Everyone stirred awake, everyone except, of course, for Lily.

"Shut your trap, Black," murmured Marlene, her eyes still closed.

"NO, I WILL NOT, MCKINNON. YOU PEOPLE NEED TO WAKE UP NOW."

"I am the Mistress of all Evil…," mumbled Lily.

"I don't know about Lily, but Padfoot sure is the Mistress of all Evil," said Remus as he slowly woke up.

"HEY! I'M NO MISTRESS, I AM THE MASTER!"

"Sure, because that's better," Mary was finally awake. After 12 hours of continuous sleep, she looked fresh and not hung over, something I was jealous of because my throat was burning.

"SIRIUS ORION BLACK," I screamed in the same tone that he had been using, "HOW IN THE NAME OF CIRCE'S NOT EXISTANT BEARD DID YOU GET OUT OF THE DORM?"

"BECAUSE, JAMES FLEAMONT POTTER," replied Padfoot.

"Bless you, Black," said Marlene.

He ignored her and said, "IT MAY HAVE ESCAPED YOUR NOTICE THAT I AM A WIZARD AND KNOW HOW TO UNLOCK LOCKED DOORS."

"Oh, right," I realized, sheepishly.

"WHY IS LILY STILL ASLEEP?" Sirius said loudly.

"Because," started Mary, "it's Sunday and it's before 12 noon."

"LILY ELIZABETH EVANS, WAKE UP!" Sirius screamed.

"Listen well, all of you," Lily was still talking in her sleep, but everyone was now paying her rapt attention, "the Princess shall indeed grow in grace and beauty, beloved by all who know her, but, before the Sun sets on her 16th birthday, she shall prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die."

Mary had now lost it and started laughing unceasingly.

"WHAT THE HELL IS SHE ON ABOUT? AND WHY IS MARY LAUGHING?" Sirius was still screaming.

"She's dreaming about a muggle fairytale. God knows what's up with her," Mary said between giggles.

"Well, I know how to wake her up. I have the same unpleasant job every morning," Marlene stated. She got up and walked to the back of the couch and pushed Lily off of it.

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF MERLIN'S TIGHTY WHITIES IS GOING ON HERE?" There she was, Lily Evans, screaming obscenities as soon as she woke up.

"Believe it or not, she has a new insult every day," Mary said as-a-matter-of-factly.

Alice and Frank had been conversing again when all this had been taking place.

"Anyone know what's been going on with them?" Wormtail asked us. Everyone shrugged, watching them closely.

'NOW THAT YOU ALL ARE AWAKE, I THINK I CAN STOP SCREAMING," Padfoot, of course, screamed. "Hehe, I did that on purpose, let's go get some breakfast, I am hungry!"

So, all nine of us walked (more like got dragged for Lily) down together – after a whole year – unbathed and hung over. The Great Hall was almost empty at 10 o' clock. Just a few people were at the Slytherin and Hufflepuff tables. But, at the Slytherin table was also Snape. God, I hate him. And he seemed to be glaring daggers at us.

"Ooh, waffles," exclaimed Wormtail.

We sat down and started piling up our plates. The bacon and eggs were fantastic as always, but it seemed as if Lily loved them so much that such felt like joining them on her plate. She had apparently fallen asleep on her breakfast.

"Lily," I called to her. All I got was a snore in response, I didn't know Lily snored. It just didn't seem like the kind of thing she would do. "Lily," I repeat.

"Don't even try, James," Mary advised me, "it's not going to happen. Also, she only snores when she's tired – or so she thinks." Mary, Marlene and Alice shared a cryptic smile that probably said 'he doesn't know what he's getting into'.

But I was in the mood for rebellion, so I called out to her sleeping form again, "Lily, Lilyyyyy, Liiiiily, Evans, wake up!" There was no response up until I said: "Come on, Lils!"

"Yeah, you go slay that dragon, Philip!" she mumbled in her sleep.

"Ooh, that kind of worked," commented Alice with an impressed smile. "We usually try the 'you're late for Potions' routine. It usually works."

"LILS!" I shout, losing patience.

"FINALLY, HE HAS THE SENSE TO GO KISS HER!" She has finally awoken – with bacon all over her face. I haven't the foggiest as to what she talks about in her sleep but it's kind of amusing. Slaying dragons? Kissing girls? Woah.

"Oh my God. Congratulations, James. You have succeeded in waking up Lily, you're one of the only 4 people on the planet who can carry out the task, you should be really proud," smirked Marlene, with a knowing look on her face.

"Lily," said Remus, "what have you been dreaming about?"

Lily instantly reddened. "What? What are you talking about? I haven't been getting any weird dreams."

"Getting defensive, I see," Sirius chimed in, "it seems to me that you have been having some bizarre dreams that you don't know the source of."

"Since when do dreams have sources?" Lily was trying to evade the topic, but she wasn't any good at it – she needs lessons for that.

"Don't try to change the topic, Evans, we know all about your dragon-slaying dreams," smirked Peter.

If possible, Lily's cheeks reddened further – God, she looked good when she blushed. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Mary, Marlene and Alice broke into fits of unceasing laughter. "Shut up!" exclaimed Lily. "Ugh, what do you guys have against me?"

"Lily, you do realize that there are parts of your breakfast all over your face, right?" I noticed.

It seemed as if all the blood from her body had decided to work against gravity and creep up to Lily's head and neck region. With her already red hair, she looked like a tomato with limbs. I loved it.

The girls were still laughing, no one knew why.

"Will someone please tell me what's happening?" asked Remus, completely unawares.

"Okay, okay," started Mary, "I'll tell you, you see, Lily has this thing about Muggle fairytales. She dreams about them. They're like movies in her head except with the characters are people she knows – it gets extremely awkward sometimes – but that's beside the point. So, Lily, pray tell who these characters were?"

"Well, if you people are going to tease me about my weird dreams – nightmare, rather – I would prefer going to get these bacon bits off my face, so ta-ta!"

She left the Great Hall as fast as she could and my eyes followed her path. But I couldn't help but notice the other pair of eyes that were following her from their place at the Slytherin table and their owner quickly left the Hall, after her.


	14. Sleep's Her Salvation

Chapter 13: Sleep's Her Salvation.

26th November, 1976.

'I should not have drank so much last night! Argh!' I scolded myself as I walked (more like stomped) towards the Gryffindor Common Room. To mumble in my sleep about that horrendously embarrassing dream in the Great Hall? Merlin, what kind of luck is that! I just hope I didn't shout out names of people I know because that would have just been icing on the cake. I have this condition (?) wherein my dreams constitute my friends or people that I know but they're usually playing some character from my favourite muggle fairytaled. It's extremely weird. I expect you to not tell anyone about it.

Anyway, I was just about to reach the Portrait Hole when my thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps, getting closer by the second. I was sure it wasn't James because his footsteps wouldn't be that loud if he were following someone, he had too much prank experience for that - git. I was about to enter the Common Room when he tapped me on my shoulder. Damn it! Severus - he had to come now, didn't he? When I was pissed already!

"Snape," I said, deliberately putting malice in my tone as I called him by his last name. "I thought I made it very clear we were done talking. Why don't you move along and gossip with your little Death Eater friends, yeah?"

His expression slightly faltered but his usual indifferent face was back in a second. It was as if he never detected the detestation in my voice. He said, "It's good to see you too, Lily."

"What do you want, Snape?" I asked annoyed.

"Just thought I'd tell you that it isn't too late to back out from the tournament yet."

I had really had enough of him, I was already done with the first task, and I had done well too! Plus, I was hungover and seeing his stupid face made me feel even more sick than usual. Couldn't he just leave me alone?

I replied hotly, "So you can actually think now, can you? Piss off Snape! You should have thought before calling me a goddamn Mudblood!" His faced contorted into one of rage, but as I've stated before, I was tired of him.

I quickly turned around and entered the Gryffindor common room; leaving Snape outside and not wanting hear another fucking word out of his mouth. I didn't look back again and rushed across the Common Room and up the stairs to the Sixth Year Girls' Dormitory.

As I slammed the door, I could see James standing down in the Common Room. He looked as if he wanted to say something but the door was shut by then. I just crashed on my bed making a mental note to hex Sirius because he was the one who disturbed my sleep in the first place. What I didn't do was set an alarm on the only muggle thing that worked at Hogwarts.

26th November, 1976.

"Lily, Lily! Oh shite, this isn't going to work. LILY ELIZABETH EVANS, GET YOUR ARSE OUT OF BED!"

"I'm up, I'm up! Merlin's left, saggy—Marlene? What time is it?"

"7:30 - you've been asleep for nearly 20 hours Lily."

A uniform clad Marlene was standing in front of me, telling me that I had slept for twenty fucking hours straight! My jaw just hung open. I guess I do have a condition - Hypersomnia, maybe? I quickly ran into the bathroom and took a shower. I got dressed and magically dried my hair. Marlene and I ran down the stairs to the Great Hall, carefully avoiding all the trick stairs. We ran into Sirius, once there.

"Lily, mate, how are you? I thought you were dead and someone was particularly upset about it."

"Shut it, Sirius. You're the reason yesterday was so ugly. I'm going to hex the lights out of you one of these days."

"Yeesh, feisty!" he said.

I looked at the breakfast in front of me; bacon, eggs, capers and pumpkin juice. Aah, Hogwarts has the best meals! I dread leaving Hogwarts and the food is one of the main reasons why.

"Aw, fuck! We have double potions with the Slytherins first thing after breakfast." James said dejectedly. I don't know what he dislikes more—Potions, Slytherins, or our Potions Professor, Slughorn.

I, on the other hand, love potions. I was kind of looking forward to Potions because of all the tournament madness lately. Potions made me feel normal. Don't get me wrong, I love every other class too; in fact I was looking forward to them too because it felt like I hadn't had a normal study day since the tournament began. But Potions kind of links me with reality when everything else seems to be slipping away. The only downside to it is that Sev- Snape will be there. But whatever I'll just concentrate on my brew.

We reached the dungeons and a differently set class welcomed us. Instead of the usual benches that accommodated a pair, there were round tables for six people. And up ahead at the front of the room was a long table with two cauldrons and a tiny vial with a clear gold liquid. I had a feeling I knew what that vial contained.

Also, everything smelled weird. And then I realise that one of the cauldrons must contain Amortentia - the most powerful love potion ever brewed. And I was shocked. Why in the name of Circe's left foot did Professor Slughorn think it would be appropriate to have a cauldron full of Amortentia when a group of hormone-rushed sixteen year olds was going to attend the class? All my panicky thoughts were pushed aside when Professor Slughorn entered the dungeons.

"I see you have made yourselves familiar with the different arrangement of our class today. Mind you, today is no ordinary class. We're going to have a little competition, to play along with the tournament mood here at Hogwarts. But then again, we already have a champion amongst us, don't we Miss Evans?" Slughorn said that last line with a chuckle.

Ugh! As much as I loved potions, I really do not like how Slughorn includes me in every speech that he makes. So, I just pretended like I hadn't heard him say anything that had the word 'Evans' in it.

"Before you begin brewing, can anyone tell me what each of these caldrons and the little vial contains? These are going to be crucial for today's class." My hand shot up involuntarily and meanwhile my brain had a big question. Was Slughorn going to ask us to brew one of the three? "Miss Evans. Please enlighten us."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "The cauldron to the right contains Amortentia; the most powerful love potion in the world, but only if it is brewed correctly and with care, otherwise it has the capacity to create disasters we can't even imagine. The vial contains Felix Felicis, more commonly known as Liquid Luck. This potion, even in a small amount, can give its drinker luck and from the moment he drinks it, everything will favour him till its effects wear off, provided, of course, the potion is brewed well. As for the other cauldron, I am not too sure."

"Very good, Miss Evans! Five points to Gryffindor. The last cauldron, it contains Veritaserum. A very powerful potion that can make its drinker spill his darkest secrets by just taking one sip. This potion makes its drinker say the truth no matter how hard he tries to resist it. It is widely used by Aurors while interrogating criminals these days. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Today you will be brewing the Draught of Living Death, and not in pairs like you usually do. You will each brew the separate potions," this statement earned a few grunts, "However, the three who brew it the best will get to choose from these three potions and will each get one vial of the potion they choose."

This got me really excited. If I wanted to prove myself to stereotypical Purebloods, this was my one chance and I wasn't about to let it go. Sirius, James, Remus, Peter, Marlene and I were on the same table. Frank and Alice were on a table with of the nicer Slytherins (they were scarce), Merlin knows what's up with those two.

I carefully read the recipe for the potion and started brewing. Sirius and I were usually the ones who did well in Potions, the others were good but Sirius and I were a notch better. The time passed like sand slipping away from a hand. In no time, Slughorn was at our table evaluating our brews. As far as instructions went, I was at par with what my potion should look like by the end, but I was still nervous. He looked very happy with Sirius' potion and I gave Sirius a small smile and a thumbs-up. Sirius winked at me knowingly.

Then after what seemed like forever, Slughorn was next to me. I was looking at him anxiously as he assessed my potion. Ugh! It was taking him ages to check it. He, then, finally looked at me.

He said with a smile, "Precisely what I expected of you, Lily. Very well done."

I didn't realise I was holding my breath, I exhaled and it felt so good. But I still had one more person to beware of. Severus had natural talent for potions. He was better than me and Sirius and understood potions like they were people.

Soon, Slughorn was done evaluating everyone's potions and called us all up to the front.

"Alright. The three best brewed potions were, in order of evaluation, Sirius Black!"

Our table enthusiastically clapped and so did the others. The Slytherins' claps were a bit half-hearted.

"Lily Evans!" I couldn't hear the claps over my heart beating in my ears as I made to the front and stood next to Sirius.

"And finally, Severus Snape!" His Death Eater buddies clapped and hooted when he came towards the front. "Now you may choose the potion you want."

My eyes instantly fell on the vial of golden yellow Liquid Luck and I grabbed it. Snape went for the Veritaserum, I felt like he thought he would need it for his Dark Magic tasks and stopped I myself from hurling an insult at him. Sirius, being the Ladies' Man he was, quite obviously chose Amortentia.

"Congratulations to you! You can leave the class now. And remember, Miss Evans, you can't use Felix Felicis in any of your tasks!"

Merlin! Of course I wouldn't use it in my tasks. What does he think I am? A cheat... or worse a Slytherin?! Couldn't he let me have my moment in peace?! But, I was way too happy to let this comment get to me. I gave him a fake smile and started towards the Great Hall for lunch.

"Hey Lily!" I looked back at the person calling my name. It was James.

"Yeah?" I asked him once he reached me.

"You got some secret to brewing the perfect potions all the damn time?" he asked, stepping close.

"Well, even if I did I wouldn't tell you now, would I?" I said nudging him away.

James pretended to look offended and pulled the pouty face. It was enough to set me laughing. Everyone around us just gave us odd looks. I ignored them, I shall mind my own business, and so should they.

Soon, lunch filled the empty golden plates in front of us. Roast chicken! Yum!

"Hey Alice, what do we have next?" Marlene asked Alice because she was the only one who could remember the schedule without looking at the parchment.

This question interrupted Alice's conversation with Frank, she quickly looked at us and said, "Double charms with the Hufflepuffs of course." She then resumed her talk with Frank.

Sirius turned to me, "Say Lily, you know what Longbottom and Prewitt are up to?"

"Hell if I know, Sirius. I've been trying to ask Alice but she isn't around much anymore. Pretty sure something's going on though."

He smirked at this and I continued to relish that heavenly roast chicken.

"Pete, slow down mate."

"Buf Pwongs, it fooooo good!"

I looked at Peter, his mouth was stuffed with roast chicken, so stuffed that a smidge more and food would actually fall out of his mouth. Ew. I decided to concentrate on my food. Didn't want to miss Charms for my tardiness - It is my favourite class.

"Mr. Potter and Mr. Black, I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for your lateness."

"Sorry, Professor Flitwick, Professor Slughorn wanted to talk to us."

Oh, I bet James and Sirius were off setting dungbombs in Filch's room. Those Marauders will never grow up.

"Fine, take your seats. Today, we will be practicing Silent Charms." Professor Flitwick squeaked.

Silent Charms - YAY! Okay, that might have made me sound geeky but, in my defence, I have been wanting to do Silent Charms ever since I came to know what they were in Second Year.

"For these charms you have to concentrate really hard on the spell you want to perform and visualise it in your head. We will start with some easy charms like the Levitation Charm. Let's start with Miss Evans."

I took my wand and pointed it at one of my quills and concentrated very hard on Wingardium Leviosa. I was nervous because nothing really happened at first and then very slowly the feather started to levitate and the entire class broke into an applause.

"Bravo, Miss Evans! Let's continue. Once you have achieved it, you will keep practicing with slightly more difficult spells. I have listed some you can start with on the board."

I kept practicing and Remus learned it soon after me. Remus and I, being the kind people we are, started helping everyone else.

Slowly, Alice managed to master her non-verbal charm, followed by Sirius, who punched in the air as soon as his feather rose; James, who carefully levitated his parchment and I could see amazement in his eyes; Marlene, who high five-ed me after her quill was set down; Frank, to whom Alice gave a huge smile and a thumbs up, was successful next; Mary, nervously finished her first try, and finally, Peter, who was just happy to have accomplished it.

The class was soon dismissed and we rushed to classrooms around the middle courtyard, where our next class Transfiguration would take place.

Now, I'm not exactly rubbish at Transfiguration but half of the time in that class I have no idea what's going on. Even Peter manages to get better grades than me in Transfiguration and it frustrates me slightly. Okay, you're right, it frustrates me a lot.

Anyway, when we reached there, the large classroom was already filled with Ravenclaws. Being the early birds that they were (no pun intended), they had reached class before even McGonagall could come in.

I sat down on my usual spot... in the back. This was one class where I always sat in the back. Because it was irritating when everyone was told to transfigure something, I was usually among the last ones to get it done. Also, I shared my desk with Peter, which just got awkward at times when we literally said nothing to each other the entire class.

When McGonagall started the class today, she immediately set us up to the task of conjuring birds. Yes, that's right, conjuring birds out of thin air! I looked around like a fool. Apparently, we had studied the spell and the hand movement in the last class. It's funny how I do not remember doing any of that.

"Hey, Pete?"

"Yeah, Lily?"

I swallowed all my pride and asked him, "Would you mind teaching me how to conjure those birds?"

"Er, no, of course not," he spoke quickly and then remained silent.

"Well, go on then..."

"Okay. So you have to say 'Avis' and move your wand like this" he said while showing me the movement.

It looked sort of like those V-shaped birds that I used to make on my drawings as a child. I drew out my wand and repeated the movement Peter showed me.

"Like this?" I asked. He clicked his tongue in disapproval.

"No you're doing it wrong, Lily," he said as he grabbed my hand (which still held my wand) in his and repeated the movement. "Like that."

'Oh okay," I said.

Then I suddenly heard the chirping of birds and I looked around the classroom to see who had conjured the birds. I turned out to be James, of course, but what was weird was he turned to look at me at the same time. He was beaming at first so I smiled at him but then his eyes zeroed in on something in front of me and he looked kind of angry. I shot him a confused look but then I realised what he was looking at. My hand... and Peter's hand... locked together.

Peter then quickly dropped my hand and it hid the table with a thud.

"Ow!"

"Sorry Lily. It's just - you know how he gets when he's, you know..." he trailed off.

"Jealous?" I asked him incredulously.

"Yeah, that. Don't tell him I said that, though," Peter said quickly. He didn't say anything at all after that.

I actually caught James glaring at Peter many times during the class and Peter could do nothing but send apologetic looks in his direction. I felt bad for the poor guy and I decided I would give James a piece of my mind later.

Soon after Tranfiguration was over, we all left the class for the Great Hall, where we would all have supper. I thought of cornering James but when my stomach started rumbling... Well, you can say I have my priorities sorted. So, obviously, I chose food over James Potter.

When we reached the Great Hall, Marlene said, "Sirius, how do you manage to reach the Great Hall before us even if you left after us?"

"That's a secret, McKinnon. The only thing I can tell you is that my nose is as powerful as a dog's." For whatever mundane reason, the boys sniggered at this.

And then Peter said, "Ooooh! Shepherd's pie and treacle tarts."

Any conversation that was going on was left hanging because this was everyone's favourite dinner after a long school day. It was a good Monday after all the Wizarding Tournament mess. And I just longed to lie on my bed again.


	15. The Days of Denial

Chapter 14: The Days of Denial

November 30th, 1976.

"Okay, it's Marlene's turn," said Mary, "Truth or dare, Marlene?"

We were all seated around the heater in our dormitory, playing the cliché game of 'Truth or Dare'.

"Dare. Always," Marlene replied, with an air of condescension.

"Okay, but don't forget you asked for it," grinned Alice.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. What's the dare?" asked Marlene.

"You have to sneak up to the boys' dormitory right now—"

"NO!"

"And kiss—"

"NO!"

"Merlin! Marls, let me finish. You have to go there and kiss Peter."

"NO!"

"On the lips," added Alice hastily.

"And you know the punishment, Marls," sang Mary knowingly.

I felt bad for Marlene, she was my best friend, after all. But, at the same time, I realized that this game could be fun when I wasn't the center of attention.

"Come on, Marls, you can do it!" I said.

"Okay, I will—but don't celebrate just yet," Marlene bubbled, "I will complete my dare only after the two of you answer my questions truthfully." She dramatically pointed at Alice and I.

Oh, no. She was going to go off about how Alek and I were flirting the other day, at the party. But, she had had days to talk about it, so why now?

"Fine," we both echoed. How bad could one question be, anyway?

"Great," she nodded. "Alice first; Are you and Frank Longbottom dating?" asked Marlene, her blue eyes wide.

Ah, I always knew Marlene was smart. Alice had been avoiding that question like the plague. She was finally cornered. Ha!

"No - maybe - I don't know," said Alice.

"Alice, I said you have to answer truthfully," sang Marlene.

"I'm telling you - it's complicated!"

"How so?" I said.

"Well, you obviously know that I like him, and I think he likes me too," said Alice blushing.

"I sense a 'but' coming," mused Mary.

"But, he just broke up with his longtime girlfriend like a week ago."

"And?" Marlene rolled her eyes.

"And, he – I – well, we -"

"You kissed, didn't you?" exclaimed Mary.

Alice looked at her incredulously and proceeded to not shyly.

"But, you're still not dating?" I asked, confused. "What happened?"

"Well, at the party, we were talking and stuff, and we were drunk, and I don't know - it just sort of occurred. But then, the next day, it was as if it nothing happened. He seemed to have forgotten about it altogether—not that I mentioned it to him or anything – he just never brought it up. So, we're not together but I feel like I'm just, you know, stuck in the middle."

"Aw, you poor thing," said Marlene with mock sadness and hugged Alice tight.

Alice swatted Marlene away with her hand, "It's an actual problem, if you don't realize."

"Don't worry Alice, I'm pretty sure he likes you," said Mary.

"Yeah, how sure?" asked Marlene.

"As sure as the fact that this is my right hand," said Mary raising her right hand.

"No, Mary, that's your left hand," nagged Marlene, trying to confuse her.

"Oh, is it? Wait," she started to count something, "No, I'm pretty sure this is my right hand," said Mary and we all started laughing.

It had been so long since I sat with the girls to talk that anything was making me laugh. Life seemed to be winding around that crazy tournament.

"Hey Marls, its Lily's turn now," Alice smirked.

"You're right," Marlene said as she turned her beady eyed gaze on me.

"So, Lily, what's up with you and Potter?"

Me and James? What?

"Err, nothing?" I said, extremely puzzled.

"Come on, we're not stupid - you think we don't notice you guys flirting?"

What the fuck?

"We—I do not flirt with James."

"Stop lying! You guys flirt all the time, Lily," Mary chortled.

"We don't!" I shrieked.

"Lily, think about it. What are the basics of flirting?" asked Marlene.

She had taken the pains to teach me the basics of flirting a year or two ago. Thankfully, she thought I wasn't ready for advanced flirting then.

"Umm, maintain eye contact, relate with him, be touchy, laugh at his jokes and compliment him?" I knit my eyebrows, uncertainly.

"Aww, Lil! You remember what I taught you! Anyway, now try to remember if you do all of those things with him."

Umm, okay?

"I guess I maintain eye contact."

Because come on, who doesn't? Have you looked at his hazel eyes? Golden and green and brown and blue all mixed together, hmm. Okay, Lily, you're dwelling.

"You do all of the above Lily," accused Mary.

But I know that I do not.

"Hey, I don't compliment him a lot, nor do I relate with him on things and I am definitely not touchy!" I said.

"Oh my Merlin, you guys are so touchy with all the 'nudging' and the 'playfully hitting' stuff," Mary persisted, "and Lily, I don't know if you know this but you guys look exactly like Alice and Frank do when they're toget—"

"Ow, Lily, don't hit me! I'm just stating the truth!"

Stating the truth, my arse! I do not flirt with James Potter.

"I don't flirt with James and we're just friends. That is my final answer. Now, it's time you complete your dare McKinnon," I said gritting my teeth.

"Alright, alright, no need to get mad, I'll go," Marlene defended.

"Good."

She then left with Mary to finish her dare. Frankly, I had no interest in seeing it, so I stayed back in my room and went to sleep, or at least I tried to sleep as unwanted thoughts of me and James flirting kept swimming in my mind.

December 1st, 1976.

I woke up early this morning, at least by my standards, because of my weird dream – it was based on Aladdin this time. I took a bath, got dressed and noticed that Alice had already left the dorm, probably for breakfast.

As I left my dorm and went down the stairs to the Common Room, I saw James sitting on the couch with his feet propped up on the small coffee table. He held a book in his hands and his face was buried inside it. I went and sat beside him on the couch. He looked at me for a brief second and then back into his book. It was funny how different James looked with a book in his hands, though his hair was the same crazy mess. It didn't suit his 'I'm-too-busy-studying-to-wish-Lily-a-good-morning' look, so I started running my hands through it so that it would stay to one side—and then I caught myself. I was being touchy, bloody hell - Mary was right.

James's POV

I turned to look at her when her hands just stopped moving, even though they were still in my hair, her green eyes wide in realization. To say that I was enjoying her playing with my hair is an understatement. Do you know how long I've waited for us to just be normal again, like we used to be in Fourth Year? And though I do want us to be more than just friends, it's probably not what she wants. I gave her an odd look and she hastily removed her hands from my hair. I decided not to talk about it because then she'd just be embarrassed.

"Morning Lils," I said.

"Yeah, good morning, James. What're you reading?" She asked me, somewhat hastily.

"A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration," I said.

"Oh, that's why you were the only one in class who could conjure those bloody birds," she reflected.

"No, this is just for fun. That was pure talent," I smirked.

Okay, I wasn't being completely honest - I had worked my arse off to get that spell right.

"Whatever," she said, irked. She seemed to be battling something inside her head, the look on her face contemplating. She finally sighed and said, "James, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, of course," I said softly.

"Why were you glaring at Peter that day?"

Oh Merlin, not that. Anything but that.

"During Transfiguration?" I asked because I decided it would be wise to not deny it - she doesn't like it when people lie.

"No, you were glaring at him the entire day, stupid!" She said swatting me on the head, and then without really thinking about it, I caught her hand before she could take it back and just held it. Merlin, her hands were so soft. No wonder Peter—I stopped thinking when I saw her pointed glare.

"He—I was glaring at him because he's stupid."

Yeah, good reply, nitwit.

"That's hardly a reason, and also, I don't think Pete was apologizing to you for being stupid," she said, but I wasn't paying much attention. I was busy playing with her hand.

"Er, it was a Marauder thing," I babbled, distractedly.

"Really? Are you sure it was? That it had nothing to do with Peter helping me out with the spell?"

"Is that what he was doing?" I looked up, surprised.

"Yeah," her eyebrows were furrowed together in question, or was it worry?

"Well, he could have done that with his own wand. He just wanted to hold your hand," I said glancing back at our hands in my lap.

"So, the glaring was because of that?"

Er, yeah? I mean, what do you want me say, woman? You know how I feel about you! Don't you remember the Robert Hook incident?

"Yes," I said, distraught, and she glared at me.

Oh no, she was mad at me - again.

"You need to stop, James. You don't have to nearly-kill every guy who comes within a one meter radius of me," she mumbled.

"I don't do that!"

"I was hyperbolizing," she sighed, resigned.

"You were what?"

"Exaggerating to get a point across."

Oh, well, she was definitely doing that.

"Well, I can't promise you that I won't do it again," she made a face, "but as consolation, I can help you out with Transfiguration, so that you won't have to ask Pete for help next time and I won't have to glare at him. How does that sound?"

She seemed to be contemplating it. She's so stubborn when it comes to asking me for help. She probably thinks it will make me conceited. Her pride didn't help, either. Come on, Lils, stop fighting it!

"You logic confuses me beyond a point, but the idea sounds good," She said, smiling.

I couldn't believe it. She was actually agreeing with me on something. Maybe she'll agree to go the Yule Ball with me too.

"Now, if you don't mind, I'm heading down for breakfast." She said, removing her hand from mine. Then she looked at me, "Care to join?"

"Sure, come on," I said, dropped my book on the table and left the Common Room with Lily.

Lily's POV

Someone pinch me. Did that happen? Argh! I was supposed to be mad at him, instead I ended up appreciating his stupid logic! What is wrong with me? Bloody hell, I know what it was. His stupid hand! His calloused yet somehow gentle hand! It has to be. I had this whole plan to get mad at him, Merlin knows it gives me a high, but as soon as he caught my hand—I don't know - I just couldn't stay mad at him. He was being so adorable!

No—I did not just say that. You never heard (read?) anything of the sort. These kinds of thoughts are reserved for when I'm alone, swimming in the dark abyss of my lonely, pathetic mind. I could have pushed him away but—but I don't know, okay! I am not going down that lane, especially when I'm sitting right next to the idiot. He's explaining something Transfiguration-related but I can't pay attention because he's crunching on the bloody toast so loudly.

"So, now can you do the spell?" James asked suddenly.

"Er, no," I said, uncertain about his reaction.

"But I've explained it three times now, Lily!"

"I'm telling you James, there is no point in trying to explain Transfiguration to me. I can be distracted by bloody anything."

"Yeah, what distracted you now?" he asked smirking.

"You," I stated plainly.

"Me?" he asked innocently but there was something really suggestive about his tone.

"Yes, you! You were chewing so loudly I had to check if there was amplifying charm on you. Honestly. Don't talk while you're eating."

"Fine—" he started replying but was very rudely interrupted by someone.

"Hello, Lily," said aforementioned someone.

And that someone turned out to be none other Aleksander Dragomir, the Bulgarian hunk/my current crush.

"Hey Alek, what's up?" I replied, trying to look un-phased by his sudden appearance.

"Can I talk to you a little privately? It's important."

"Oh, okay," I said and got up from my seat. Alek started walking towards the Entrance Hall and I followed him, but not before I flashed James an apologetic grin which he didn't return.

Not that I care or anything - do I?

Alek led me out the gate and into the greenery. The weather was so good this morning; the sky was clear and bright and there was a cool breeze blowing. We walked towards the lake in silence and it was getting more awkward by the second.

"So, what was it that you wanted to talk about?" I asked before the awkwardness swallowed me whole.

"What?" he asked.

"What do you mean, what? You told me you wanted to discuss something important. So, what is it?" I asked trying not to get mad.

"Oh, err, sorry that was a puny excuse to talk to you," he said somewhat apologetically.

"What?"

Wait a minute - if it's not important then why the hell are you wasting my breakfast time?

"You can't blame a man for wanting to be with a beautiful lady on such a wonderful day, can you?"

Oh, oh, I mean if you put it that way. Oh Merlin, I'm blushing.

"I suppose I can't. So, where is this beautiful lady you were talking about?" I asked and he started laughing.

"Very funny, you know I was talking about you, Lily."

Yeah, I do. I just wanted to start a conversation so this awkwardness would go away, dumb kid.

"So, have you figured anything out about the second task?"

Ugh, the second task. No, I haven't figured it out cause I've been trying to forget about it completely. But that doesn't sound like a good response.

"No. Besides, even if I did, I wouldn't let it slip to the competition now, would I?"

"Oh, it hurts to see that you don't trust me, Lily," he said feigning disappointment. I smiled at him.

"It takes time to build trust, Alek," I smirked.

"I see. So are you saying that if we spend time together, you will start trusting me?" Did I read that wrong or did he ask me if we could spend time together. He spoke again before I could respond, "Because if that's the case, I have a great idea; what do you think of the Yule ball? Splendid place for trust building exercises don't you think?"

"Hmm, I guess," I said because I liked where this was going.

"So, what do you say, will you be my date to the Yule Ball?"

OH.

MY.

GOD.

YESSSSSSSS!

"Sure, why not?" I said trying not to show my inner levels of excitement in fear of scaring him off. I smiled at him sweetly and he returned it, unlike some people. We talked for another ten minutes before I started missing my breakfast so we started walking back to the Great Hall. As our destination neared my mind started wandering to thoughts about a particular occupant of this place and what he would think of me going to the ball with Alek.

Wait, since when do I care what he thinks? He's my friend now, so he's supposed to accept and respect my choices. I hope that means he won't hex Alek into the next century. I shuddered at the thought. Happy thoughts, happy thoughts.

Oh right, I'm going to the Yule Ball with Alek! Aah, I can't believe it! I can't wait to tell Marls and Mary and Alice. But no, that would mean enduring intense shopping sessions on the next trip to Hogsmeade, which is tomorrow by the way, so I guess telling them can be put off until, I don't know, the next… century? Merlin, I hate shopping. It's such a waste of time. You go to a store, you find 200 things you like, you try each and every one of them on, and then you buy five of those things. What. Is. The. Point?

Meh, who cares, I'll just get Marlene to pick something up for me later. Not even the idea of shopping can bring me down now. Not even the fact that the boy sitting next to me is silently seething. Not even the fact that they do not have bacon this morning. Because, I, LILY ELIZABETH EVANS, AM GOING TO THE YULE BALL WITH THE ONE, THE ONLY, MUSCLEMAN, HOTTIE, DURMSTRANG HUNK – ALEKSANDER DRAGOMIR. EEP!


	16. What Clue?!

Chapter 15: What Clue?

December 2nd, 1976.

"Hey Marls?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you have a date today?" I asked her innocently.

"What do you think?" She said, adjusting her scarf.

"I would like to think that you don't. You know, because maybe, just maybe you're still – you know – kind of hung up on Sirius?" My voice got higher and higher as finished the sentence.

"Hey – I am not hung up on Black," she snapped, "Just because we've been arguing a bit does not mean I'm still into him. Merlin, I thought you were the smart one."

"Okay, but you still haven't answered my question."

"Yes, I do have a date. It's Amos Diggory."

Mary gasped from where she was curling her hair. "The hot Amos Diggory? Amos 'I-have-a-jawline-that-could-cut-through-diamond' Diggory?"

Marlene grinned and nodded.

"How'd you do that?" Mary's jaw seemed to have him the floor.

"Oh, you know, I have my ways," she smiled mysteriously. "Come on, now, I'm in desperate need of a drink."

"It's 9 in the morning!" I reminded her as we walked down the dormitory stairs into the Common Room.

"Hey Lily!" Sirius called out to me, "Can you please tell Prongs that he is being a complete arse?" The boys and Alice were sitting around the dead fire.

"Potty, you're being a complete arse!" I gladly obliged. Remus let out a snort of laughter, but quickly disguised it as a cough after seeing the look on James's face.

"You don't even know why he's calling me one!" James exclaimed.

"Oh, you know she doesn't need a reason to call you names," Alice commented.

I glared at her, "Anyway, what are we arguing about here?"

Sirius frowned. "Well, Robbins, you know, the Goddess from Ravenclaw, asked this idiot," he pointed to James, "to the Yule Ball."

Oh.

Oh.

"Ooh, really?" Marlene said, "She's a nice girl."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Sirius said offhandedly, "and this bastard said 'no'!"

"What?" I said, "Why?"

"Because I don't want to go with her!" James replied.

Marlene's jaw dropped open. "Now I think Lily's justified in calling you an arse."

"Hey – I just like keeping my options open!" James argued.

"You are being an idiot, Prongs," Peter sang.

"See! Even Wormy thinks so!" Sirius screamed.

James yawned. "Ugh, will you people just let it go? It's just a girl."

"Fine," Sirius said, affronted, "But only because I have a date in," he checked his watch, "2 minutes. Got to run!"

Sirius ran out of the Portrait Hole with the rest of us following closely. We made it to the Entrance Hall in record time. Filch was busy checking the list for those who were allowed to go to Hogsmeade near the giant oak doors. There were couples meeting all over the Hall. Sirius stopped by a blonde but we couldn't tell who it was because her back was towards us.

Diggory came towards us and kissed Marlene on her cheek, "Hey, Marlene."

"Hello, Amos," she said.

He smiled at her and turned to us, "Hey, guys."

We all wished him a good morning. He really was good looking – nice brown hair, black eyes. Apparently Mary was right – his jawline was sharp!

Sirius started making a beeline for us with the blonde. Who turned out to be – guess who – Jennifer Williams from Ilvermorny. How did they even meet? The week after the First Task had been so cold that the students from the other schools had been locked up in their own designated 'homes'.

"Diggory?" Sirius raised his eyebrows at him, "What are you doing here?"

"We have a date, Black," Marlene said, loftily. She seemed to be enjoying making Sirius uneasy. Honestly, why can't those two just snog it out. It's better than all these competitive dates.

He blinked, "Oh. Oh, uh, well, let's get going then." His shoulders slumped noticeably but I decided not to call him out on it because he would deny it profusely – he was stubborn in ways that beat even me.

The 11 of us walked to the village together, laughing and talking animatedly about the Yule Ball. I still hadn't told anyone about Alek asking me – the girls would drive me crazy about having 'nothing to wear'. Plus, I don't think James likes Alek too much.

"Brr… it's cold," Remus shivered as we entered The Three Broomsticks.

"Well, it's December, so yeah," Jennifer commented.

"So, Jen," I started, "where in the US are you from?" She and I had become fast friends at the party after the First Task for the Wizarding Tournament. She seemed congenial for someone who was from a big Wizarding Family – but so were James and Sirius.

"Umm, so my house is this a state called Tennessee, which is in the south of the US, but my parents only go there when I come home for the holidays. They're usually travelling all over the country so the house is always empty."

"Interesting," I said, "what do your parents do?"

"They were for the MACUSA."

"What's that?" Frank asked, suddenly interested.

"It stands for Magical Congress of the United States of America, it's like the British Ministry of Magic."

Huh. Who knew there were things like that? I'd always been so spellbound with Hogwarts and the Ministry itself that I had never thought about Magical Folk in other countries.

"So, does the Grindelwald thing still affect the MACUSA?" Remus asked.

"Not really, the security and identification has been very strict since that mishap. Only known families are allowed to work there now."

"By known families, you mean Purebloods?" asked Sirius, looking a bit annoyed.

"Not exactly, but yes, I guess you can say that," Jennifer said somewhat uncomfortably.

We entered an uneasy silence after that. Everyone seemed to contemplate what was going to happen in the future. Developed and apparently 'unorthodox' countries like the United States were discriminating based on blood purity. What does that mean for the rest of the world? What does that mean for me?

Now, with the dawn of Voldemort's reign, where he was turning influential people to his side, I didn't know what lay ahead of me. Hogwarts is so protected, it's like a safe haven for everyone – all we have to really worry about are late essays and who's dating whom. But how long will that last? How long until Voldy and his Death Eater cronies start attacking – killing – our families? How long until the Slytherins start attacking Muggleborns – attacking me?

Mary coughed awkwardly, "I'm going to meet my date at the Hog's Head in 5 minutes, but we will probably come back here. Why don't you guys order some drinks while I'm gone?"

"You have a date too?" I asked her, snapping out of my thoughts.

"Yes. Edgar Bones asked me last night," she grinned.

"Oh, okay," I replied, my smile flickering.

Great, now everyone had their own dates to deal with but me - and James, Remus and Peter. Frank and Alice aren't 'officially' on a date but seeing them converse silently in their own little corner on the table proves that Alice was going to be busy the entire day – well, at least I won't have to shop for dress gowns with them.

Remus and Peter volunteered to get everyone Butterbeers. Sirius, having turned of age last month, wanted something stronger but we bluntly refused – bad things can happen when he gets drunk.

The other couples got busy with their own conversations, except for Sirius and Jennifer. Sirius seemed to be glaring something fierce at Amos Diggory who was busy fawning over Marlene. Marlene kept glancing at Sirius and then pretended not to see his expression.

"Lily," Jennifer called, "what are your plans after Hogwarts?" The question caught me off-guard. Hmm, my plans after Hogwarts? I didn't have plans for tonight and she was asking me about 2 years later.

James seemed to like the question, he put his chin in his hand and coaxed, "Yes, Lily, what are your plans after Hogwarts?"

I tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. "I don't know yet, actually. I have been thinking about Healing, but I also like DADA so becoming an Auror would be nice. But I also do love Potions, so, well, I haven't decided," I said uncertainly.

"It is a bit early asking about such stuff, but I'm only a 5th year and I know that I will be a Press Correspondent for the American Wizarding World newspaper," she declared.

Remus and Peter returned with our drinks and we got engaged in sipping the warm drinks. Just then, the door opened bringing with it the chilly December air and Mary with Edgar Bones. Edgar is a Hufflepuff 6th year Prefect, so Remus and I have become good friends with him.

"Yum, I needed me a drink," Edgar announced as he took the empty seat next to Peter.

"Hey, Bones," James greeted. They had been enemies on the Quidditch Pitch for the past 3 years but luckily, there were no matches this year, so they were civil.

"Hello, Potter, everyone," he nodded to each of us, "Lily, how's the clue for the Second Task going?"

Clue?

"What clue?" I asked him, puzzled.

"You don't know?" he said, bewildered, "the squid egg that you collected during the First Task is actually a clue. It's how the Tournament works."

Jennifer was looking at me like I had grown a pair of horns, "You seriously did not know that?"

Sirius seemed to have been activated like an enzyme on the use of the word 'seriously.' He stopped glowering at Diggory and turned to us, "What are you people talking about?"

"The fact that none of you dunce-like zebras thought to tell me that the egg had a clue! How could you do that to me? Remus, did you know?" I demanded.

"Of course I knew, everyone knew. We just thought that you knew, too. No wonder it wasn't brought up in conversation," he said, abashed.

"MARLENE!" I shouted, "Did you know that the egg had a clue?" She and Diggory turned to look at me. My face must have been red because they instantly recoiled.

"Umm, yes?" she said, uncertainly.

"THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME? Ugh!" I got up and stormed out of the pub, leaving everyone looking after me uncertainly.

As soon as I opened the door, the wind attacked me with its nasty crisp bows shooting arrows into my chest.

"Merlin, I hate December!" I grumbled to myself, starting to walk towards the castle.

The heard door to the Three Broomsticks open, heavy footsteps headed towards me. I instantly knew who it was, and I did not want to talk to them right now.

"Hey, Evans, wait up," James shouted.

"Not in the mood, Potter," I said, without turning around. He ran and caught up with me but I kept walking, determined not to look at him. He grabbed my wrist and I said, "Just leave me alone, will you?"

"What's the matter, Lils?" he asked, softly. His tone caught me off-guard and I finally looked up at him. His hazel eyes were bearing into mine, concerned.

"Nothing, it doesn't even matter."

"Come one, you know you can talk to me, right?"

"Seriously, I don't want to talk about it."

"Fine, then, can we at least sit down?"

I sighed, succumbing to his ask. I pointed at a nearby bench and we sat down. I started playing with my hands, staring straight ahead at the Three Broomsticks' door.

"James?" I asked quietly after a few minutes, looking down at my tangled fingers.

"Hmm?"

"Do you ever feel out of place?"

He looked at me, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, do you ever feel out of place here?" I raised my head to look at him.

"Here, you mean, Hogwarts?"

I looked back down at my hands and thought about what I'd said, of course he didn't feel out of place, he was a star – an only son to loving, alive, parents; Quidditch God; top of the class in most lessons; Pureblood – what did he have to worry about?

I shook my head, "It doesn't matter."

"Come on, Lily, talk to me," his voice taking that soft tone again.

Ugh, I have started hating that voice of his. It's so comforting; it's like a large hug that will make you give away all your darkest secrets.

"I'm scared, James," I closed my eyes.

"Of what?"

"Of this, of life, of the future, of the Second Task, of dying!"

"Lily, I've told you before – you are not going to die in this tournament!"

"No, but can't you see? I didn't even know there was a clue! I don't even know half of what I'm doing!" I practically shouted.

"You know that's not true, you will be fine."

"We don't know that."

"Lily, I know there's more to this that you're not telling me. Please, I want to know what's bothering you."

I shook my head. "You wouldn't understand."

"Try me," he smiled.

"But, I know you won't, so there's no point trying."

He gave me a stern look, "Lils. I know that you are a big stubborn niffler and guarded as a fortress, but I think I can help you."

"I know you can. But – but I just don't like talking about it."

"Perhaps it's time you do."

I sighed in resignation. "It's not just this tournament. It's everything that's happening - Voldemort, tortured Muggleborns, dying Muggles – I don't even have a family to go to, James. It's just me. And that's the way it's going to be."

"Come on, Lily, you know that's not true –"

"I don't even know how I'm going to survive an inter-school competition and in 2 years we're supposed to be on our own. There won't be a castle protecting us, there won't be Professors fighting our battles – we're going to be alone, I am going to be alone."

"Lily, we're not just going to abandon you."

"It's not like you're going to have a choice – it's inevitable, after school, we're hardly ever going to meet. Plus, I'm Muggleborn, that's an even worse situation to be in. I'm not looking for a pity party, it's just –"

"Hey, hey, don't you ever think you're a pity party. Don't you ever think we're going to forget about you – that I'm going to forget about you. You, Lily Elizabeth Evans, are one of the thickest people I've ever met – and I'm best friends with Padfoot."

"James. You don't know the real situation. Heck, I don't know the real situation. All I know right now is that me being a Muggleborn does not help me."

We entered an uncomfortable silence, it seemed like James was thinking over what I'd said. It was true – I have no family, the only family I have hates me, my friends are all going to be busy with their own families, all I will have left would be myself. And a gazillion cats. Of all the things I'd thought of myself, I never imagined I would think of myself as a cat lady.

"Lils?"

"Yeah?" I said looking up at him.

"I didn't know you had no family," he said sadly.

I shifted uneasily and looked at my intertwined fingers, "I didn't want you to know. The truth is no one outside of my closest friends knows that my parents had died."

I guess he was right, perhaps it is time I started talking about such things. Even though I hadn't told him much yet, it felt better to have my fears out in the open.

"It happened in 3rd year," I started, "during Christmas break. I was visiting Marlene that day. Mum and Dad had to pick me up from the closest Floo Network enabled fire place – at the Ministry of Magic in London.

"I sat on the bench near the Telephone Booth for hours waiting for them to come. I called home, but no one answered the phone. Later, I decided to go back to Marlene's to see if they knew anything. I Apparated - side-along, obviously - for the first time that day. It turned out Mum and Dad had left hours ago to pick me up.

My voice wavered, "Then, the phone call came – they had had a terrible accident on the motorway connecting Cokeworth and London, they were no more."

I paused, biting my tongue. I hoped James couldn't see the tears welling up in my eyes. But, I hadn't spoken about it ever, and it seemed that one of my fortress walls had decided to go crashing down.

"Petunia, of course, blamed me and my freakish abilities and my nasty friends. And, to some point, I blamed myself, too…" I drifted off. I hadn't told anyone this story, not even Sev, he had come to know from the neighbours. Marlene had told Mary and Alice. But, for some reason, saying it out loud felt good, saying it to James felt good.

"It's not your fault, Lily," James started, "I've always believed that whatever happens is for a reason. And I'm sure, if they were here right now, they'd be so proud of you."

I gave him a small smile.

He suddenly engulfed me in a tight embrace and said, "Lily, don't ever, ever think that you are alone. You are not alone – I am right here. And as for this Tournament, we're going to crack that clue, and you're going to win because if you can survive everything you have, then you can survive that stupid competition. Also, because you're a badass ninja hunter."

I snorted at that, pulling back, "A ninja hunter?"

He seemed to mull over his words and crinkled his nose in realization, "That was a bad one, wasn't it?"

That earned a hearty laugh from me, "You think?"

He stuck his tongue out like a 5 year old.

"Come on, let's go inside, I need a drink."

My heart felt significantly lighter as we both, once again, entered the Three Broomsticks.


	17. Kiwi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter is inspired by Harry Styles' song, Kiwi, because just like in the song, the title has absolutely nothing to do with the Content.

December 2nd,1976 (Padfoot's PoV)

Sirius Black did not wait for girls to fall in love with him… especially blondes with dark blue eyes who went by names like Marlene. No, waiting was not his thing. He would make them fall in love with him, just because he could, and it was a good way to pass his time. But when certain girls, who also went by names like Marly and were excellent at snogging, decided in their own mind that he was not worth their time, he would leave them alone, because if he pursued them any further, he would be, well, James Potter…. And nobody wanted to be that pathetic.

And so, instead of waiting for girls with the above mentioned characteristics to fall for him, Sirius Black found himself wooing another girl at Lily Evans's victory party. He thought she was a right catch; pretty, smart, funny... Her name was Jennifer something, champion of Ilvermorny, the American School of Magic. When he first found her at the party she was eyeing a girl, but when that didn't lead to anything, she turned her pursuit to Sirius.

Sirius, of course, found that as a good opportunity to get her right sloshed. Usually this act would lead right to the rest of the night spent snogging the opposite sex, but this time was different. This time around, Sirius Black found himself listening to the sappy drunk complain about her life for an hour and comforting her for another. They did find themselves in a broom cupboard some time later, which was the best part according to Sirius.

In fact he liked it so much, that he decided to 'do it again sometime' and asked her out to Hogsmeade. And so there he was on a chilly Saturday of winter'76, waiting for his date to come, when he saw one of those girls, a girl who had broken his heart, with an arm wrapped around some git.

Suffice to say, he wasn't happy at all. He tried to talk to her, but all he got was a snappy remark. So again, Sirius Black decided to give up; something he found himself doing a lot these days. He tried to pay attention to his date for the rest of the day, but someone was making it extremely difficult. He hung out with his friends for the majority of the day but his date somehow finally managed to get him alone… well as alone as you can be when you're surrounded by a bar full of people.

"Is something wrong, Sirius?" yeah, a lot of things, thought he.

"Nope, not at all. Why?"

"I dunno… you've been acting weird all day." Jennifer said.

"Hmm…" said Sirius as he looked around for one of those girls as mentioned above. And then he spotted her, with Amos Diggory and company…. Kissing him senseless. Something flared inside him and jealousy reared its ugly head.

"I'm Sorry Jennifer. You know what? I'm gonna make it up to you." He said with an attempted seductive smile and an arm thrown around her.

"Really?" asked Jennifer as she moved closer to him. She ran a finger down his face, and whispered into his ear, "How are you going to do that, hottie?"

"Oh you'll see. Just wait till we get back to the castle, luv."

As Sirius made plans that night that needed 'The Room of Requirement', he realised he was doing this out of plain spite and jealousy, but it didn't really matter. Not when he could see that girl with the Diggory git, not when he knew she was tormenting him on purpose. But there was something he didn't realize at first, not until he woke up the next morning. Sirius Black was officially a fuckboy.

December 3rd, 1976 (Another Sunday for Our Characters)

"Boo!"  
"Aaaaa!" Lily turned around to see her best friend having a laughing fit because she had managed to creep up on her.  
"MARLENE GRACE MCKINNON! You are going to pay for this!" said Lily and reached out to pull her best friend's hair. Marlene dodged Lily's hand and ran away from her.

"Ooh this might be fun" said Remus.

"Yes, of course. I'm Sirius Black and with me is James Potter. We've got a great game ahead of us Remus. Evans chasing McKinnon like a bull chases red... Funny because, you know, she's red" Remus gave a snort.

"What do you think James, who will be the winner of this round of 'Let's Fight Like Girls'?"

"Hmm Sirius, I think this will be an unpredictable yet remarkable game. Because even though McKinnon has a headstart, it looks like Evans will soon catch up with her. Great Gal, Evans is, know her personally, if you know what I mean. Not very athletic but-"

"Ooh Lily Evans has managed to hex McKinnon from behind. Tickling jinx, I see. Smart move by Evans. McKinnon rolling on the floor with laughter, and the entire population of Hogwarts looking on at her as if she's bat-shit crazy." Sirius said, laughing.

"Always said Lily was a brilliant witch, didn't I? She could beat McKinnon anytime, anywhere." said James, turning towards Sirius.

"Please James, stop your pathetic whining after Evans. It has addled your brain. McKinnon always wins. Evans got lucky this time." said Sirius in response.

"Seriously Padfoot, you're the one who's pathetic. Don't you remember what happened at last year's Halloween party when Marlene pushed Evans onto me?" asked James with a serious face. The rest of his Gryffindor mates broke into laughter at that.

"She whooped your arse mate, that's what happened." said Remus.

"After that, I mean. She almost killed McKinnon for it, didn't she?"

"Almost. She didn't actually murder her. That means Marly won, as always." Sirius smirked at James challengingly, as if saying 'you say anything else, you'll regret it'.

"Ooh, what do we have here, a fight between two best friends to prove who loves their unrequited crush more?" asked Mary as she sat down on the breakfast table beside Sirius. "Are you lads going to pull out your wands now?" Many eyebrows were raised at this.

"Another fight?! Yes, I am so ready for this!" exclaimed Lily Evans as she punched him in the shoulder and sat down next to a very uncomfortable James Potter.

"No! No one is fighting anymore! Just because there's no teachers at the staff table, doesn't mean we can do whatever the hell we want." Alice said, "And Lily, don't you and Remus have some responsibilities as prefects? What is wrong with you today?"

"Hey I'm just living my life to the fullest… considering I might die in the coming days…" said Lily, sipping some coffee, and overall avoiding contact with a pair of hazel eyes. Before James could comment on it, Lily continued, "But don't you think it's weird that there isn't even one teacher here and the Head Boy and Head Girl are missing?"

"Yeah, where could they be?" asked Peter.

"I know where the Heads are…." said Mary conspiratorially, sipping her tea.

"Oh come on, Mary! What do you think, they're snogging in a broom cupboard or something?" asked Marlene.

"Oh no, Marls, they're doing a lot more than that… in the dungeons…." added Mary. Everyone just rolled their eyes at her.

"Okay, moving on from that disgusting thought…" Lily said. "I have to go… somewhere… to do something… bye!" said Lily and started at a sprint to escape the great Hall.

"Well, that wasn't weird…" muttered Sirius.

"Yeah… I have to go, do something too… see ya'later" said James and followed Lily outside. Every other student moved on with their lives, except the marauders.

"Something fishy is going on" said Sirius.

"Sure, captain obvious. But do you know what's going on?" asked Marlene.

"Would've said something if I did, don't ya think?" stated Sirius.

"Will you two just stop arguing, please?" said Alice. "We'll find out what's going on, sooner or later." With that all of them turned to look at the retreating figures of James and Lily, hoping against hope that nothing blew up.

"Lily. Lily!" shouted James but got no attention from the girl who had escaped the Great Hall just seconds ago. He ran to catch up with her.

"Lily, do you mind slowing down? I've had a little too much of those eggs… they might make a reappearance on the floor any minute now."

"James, TOO MUCH INFORMATION. What do you want?"

"I want to know what you're up to"

"Well… it's nunya" Lily informed him.

"Nunya who?" asked James, completely baffled.

"Nunya Bussiness, idiot" She replied with a slight smirk.

"Good one, infallible. Now tell me what you're up to."

"No."

"Yes."

"No!"

"Please?"

"James Potter, don't you dare make those puppy dog eyes. Stop it."

"Stop what? I'm not doing anything."

"You're doing it again!"

"Just tell me, Infallible. Please?" Lily looked around in the corridors. No one seemed to be approaching and James didn't seem to be leaving.

"Ugh, Fine! Merlin, you're so stubborn."

"Yes. Yes I am. Go on." Admitted James and Lily rolled her eyes.

"The teachers never leave us alone, you know, so I thought they might be up to something." said Lily.

"Like what? Planning pranks to play on the seventh years? Ooh, here are your N.E.W.T. results, you totally failed!" James said in a perfect impression of Minerva McGonagall.

"No, you moron. They might be having one of those meetings where they decide how to kill off young wizards by putting them in stupid competitions. Or you know, they might be discussing the details of the second task!"

"…Okay… And…?"

"Well, I just thought that I would listen in, you know, to figure out what the hell is going to happen in the second task" said Lily. James looked as if he's swallowed a bitter pill.

"I knew being friends with you was a bad idea, Lily. The marauders are the worst influence… Now you want to cheat in the competition?!" exclaimed James. Lily covered his mouth with her hand to shut him up.

"Quiet down, will you? I don't want anyone hearing this. And, before you ask again, no I am not going to cheat, because this isn't cheating… it's merely self-preservation. You figured out what the first task was by listening in on the teachers' conversations, wasn't that cheating?"

"So now what, you're going to spy on the teachers? The second task is so far away, there's no way they've come to a solid conclusion." Stated James unsurely.

"I guess we'll find out about that when we listen in, won't we?" said Lily and without waiting for James's assent, started at a run towards the gargoyle on the third floor, tugging James along with his sleeve. A smile crept up on her face when she realized that she actually liked breaking the rules and putting her life in danger.


	18. Of Disasters

3rd December 1976

James was glad that Lily was opening up to him; so much that she actually wanted him to tag along while she eavesdropped on teachers. That's right! Lily Perfect Evans was going to eavesdrop on teachers for what she claimed to be 'mere self preservation'. As he was running towards the gargoyle on the third floor, Lily and he were intercepted by the most delusional person at Hogwarts, Edda Hornsby, the Divination proffessor.

"Oh shite! She had turn up right now, didn't she?" Lily huffed.

"Just pretend as if we're here casually. Don't fret and don't panic." James said with authority. Being a marauder and pulling off a thousand pranks had its perks in such situations.

Lily didn't have a smart come back this time because he was actually right.

Professor Hornsby noticed them and said in her faraway misty voice "Ah! Miss Evans, Mister Potter. Surprised to find you here at dinner time! I did foresee this that day, didn't I Miss Evans?"

"Er... yes Professor." Lily answered, confused, yet eager to get the conversation over with.

James gave Lily a stare as she answered. She mouthed I don't remember to him.

"Fine night, isn't it." the professor said. Suddenly Hornsby's hands went limp and her eyes became wide and misty. It was as if she was having a fit or something. She opened her mouth and asserted in a very strained voice, as if someone else was speaking through her:

"As the end of the year approaches,

A choice must be made

Choose, must you, between the one who knew you longer

And the one you hold in esteem.

Be prepared o chooser,

For the one you leave may be gone forever."

She just collapsed into her normal, earthly form then without saying a word, walked away. James stared, shocked. What did she mean? Did she just make a real prophecy? If yes, was it for him? Was it for Lily? A hundred other questions were swimming through is brain when it hit him.

Oh no... if this was a prophecy, it was already fulfilled.

His brain took him back to that dreadful evening in fifth year. When she chose him over James. That dirty git of a wannabe death eater who broke her trust and her heart not one week after she chose. That fateful evening when she chose Snivellus over James. She didn't know she broke his heart too. James' that is. She liked him and he knew it. But she'd known Snape longer, he'd been her best friend for years and he was broken, and everyone who knew Lily, knew that she liked fixing broken things, broken people even.

Everything went downhill from there. James didn't talk to her and Snape called her a mudblood. He was mad and she was betrayed and she hated him but he loved her. They almost lost each other, till they didn't this year, when they decided to be mates again.

So yeah. Technically the prophecy was fulfilled. It made him feel oddly relaxed, no more choosing between two options. No more losing someone he loved.

When James looked at Lily, he could see that she had thought about the same evening and he could tell that she was relieved that the prophecy was fulfilled too.

They both stared for a moment before she whispered, "I think we should go back to supper James. I don't feel like stepping onto that gargoyle anymore."

He just gave her the tiniest smile and nodded. He didn't feel like pushing her to overhear a couple of teachers right now. They turned around and walked back to the Great Hall, in companionable silence.

 

12th December 1976 (evening)

James had had a great day. Most of his favourite classes and quidditch practice! It honestly couldn't get better, except if Lily finally would go out with him, but he didn't think about that anymore since they were 'mates' now. He didn't think about it much.

The boys were already down for supper but James had stayed back for a shower, and now he was caught up helping a first year with some Transfiguration doubts. Just as he finished with the kid, Lily walked down the stairs from the girls' dorm. "Hey Lily! Where're the girls at?"

"James! Already down for supper. I stayed back for a bit." She said.

"Oh alright. I'm heading down myself."

"Come on then." Lily walked next to James.

After a while of silence, Lily asked, "What were you doing up in the common room?"

"Just took a shower after quidditch and then got caught up with a first year." James answered nonchalantly.

"Pranking the poor sod?"

"No, actually helping him with transfiguration. Scared of McGonagall, poor thing." James answered her with a little pride. He could see that she was impressed but chose not to comment on it.

They walked the rest of the way in silence.

Supper was delicious! Steak and kidney pie, everyone's favourite, with mashed potatoes and chocolate éclairs for dessert. James was staring at the redhead sitting between him and Alice with a quizzical expression. Merlin, could that girl eat! That's when she looked up and said, "What?! I'm hungry!"

And Sirius backed her, "With this kind of food, everyone's hungry."

And she mock-saluted him as a reply.

All in all, everything was great...

Till it wasn't when he turned up.

It wasn't Snivellus this time. It was Aleksander, the Durmstrang champ. James couldn't find a reason to not like him so he decided to not like him just for the heck of it. But this time he got a substantial reason to almost hate Dragomir.

Alek came by and stood next to Lily. "How are you Lily?"

Lily suddenly sounded excited, "Alek! I'm grand! And you?"

"Very good, thank you."

They had a bit of a conversation to which James didn't really pay attention. He could see that Lily had a thing for Aleksander. And he felt a little hurt by it, which was stupid since they were mates, but it was the way it was. James kept ignoring their conversation. Then, Alek said something that caught his attention.

"So Lily, I actually wanted to ask you if you wanted to colour coordinate or something?"

Lily whose brain wasn't really working because she was in a food coma, asked confusedly, "I'm sorry, colour coordinate for what exactly?"

Alek gave a little laugh and said, "The Yule Ball of course!"

Before James could even process the thought and possibility of Lily going to the Yule Ball with Aleksander Dragomir, Marlene yelled, "The WHAT?!" everyone in the near vicinity was staring at Lily and Marlene.

Lily had a tinge of red creeping onto her face. She said in a small voice, "I can explain..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think happens now? What will be James's reaction when he finds out that SOMEONE ELSE IS TAKING LILY TO THE YULE BALL! Tell us in the reviews... please? ;)


	19. Loopy and Loony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find us on Tumblr, we're Rosemary3107 there, too.

“Lily, what is happening?” Marlene asked.  
Oh my God. Ohmygodohmygodohmygod.  
“Lily!”  
“Don’t freak out, don’t freak out,” I closed my eyes and decided to get it out as fast as I could, “ImayhaveagreedtogototheBallwithAlekandnottoldyouyet.”  
“Umm, what?” Alice said.  
I took a deep breath, “I may have agreed to go to the Ball with Alek and not told you guys yet.”  
Mary squealed like an overactive squirrel and just sat there beaming at the pair of Alek and I. But the rest of my friends didn’t seem as enthusiastic at the confession. Fine, maybe I hadn’t told them the day it happened. Or the 2 weeks after that. But that does not mean that I deserved the unforgiving looks they were giving me – like I’d committed a sin.  
“That’s great,” Remus smiled, but it didn’t really meet his eyes.  
Alek awkwardly cleared his throat, “Well, I guess I’ll leave you guys to it. Oh and Lily, get back to me about the colour stuff.” And he proceeded to practically run from the Great Hall.   
“Lily,” Marlene said, “why didn’t you tell me?”  
“Whatever do you mean, Marls?”  
“Oh, don’t play dumb. We’re going to have a firm discussion about this, yeah?”  
I recoiled, “Yeah, fine.”  
Sirius, Alice and Peter were still looking at me like I’d grown a pair of antlers. But when I looked at James, he gave me the first real smile I’d seen yet.  
“Alek, huh?” he said, “Cool. You’ll have fun.”  
At least one of my friends had his head straight. You know, other than Mary, who was still having conniptions over the fact that Alek and I were going together. Honestly, she seemed happier than I was.   
Not that I didn’t want to go with him. I did. I really liked Alek. He was smart and gorgeous, thereby filling all the parameters required for one date. But that didn’t have me dancing around amongst flowers in my imaginative meadow.  
We then finished our dinner like usual – talking loudly over each other. Thankfully, there were no new surprises coming up now, everything was back to normal. Dinner ended with a splendid treacle tart, and all of us started standing up and getting ready to go back to the Tower.  
The rest of the group started heading towards the staircases while Sirius said to me earnestly, “Can we talk?”  
I nodded and we headed towards the Courtyard.  
“So,” I started, “What do you want to talk about?”  
“A couple of things, actually. Let’s walk.”  
“Let me guess, something to do with Marls and Ed?” I teased, strolling next to him.  
He laughed and said, “Ah, Evans, you know me so well. But, not yet. I have to talk about something else first.”  
“Hmm?”  
“Do you think Jennifer is up to something?” He turned to me.  
I tensed up. I had had the feeling that the American champion was a bit queer, but had waved it off as a strong competitive spirit. But, apparently, it dug deeper than that.  
“How do you mean?” I said, giving him a sideways glance.  
“It seems like she’s always plotting something. Like everything she does has an ulterior motive. Like, the date in Hogsmeade? It felt as if she was trying to get into our group and find some secrets.”  
“I don’t know, really. I always thought she was just really competitive and liked to get under people’s skin, but I guess not. So, do you think she’s spying on us?”   
“Not exactly spying, just lurking around,” he shrugged. “You know what they say, keep your friends close but your enemies closer. I think she’s going to try to get to you about the Tournament.”  
I laughed at that, “Oh, Sirius, she’s your girlfriend. You don’t need to go about questioning her motives just because she wants to spend time with me! You may not have noticed but I have a very vivacious personality that attracts people, I just can’t help that people like me!”  
“You’re starting to sound like Slughorn, ‘vivacious’ and whatnot. And no, she’s not my girlfriend. We just went on a date.”  
I looked at him, “So are you telling me you haven’t asked her to the Yule Ball?”  
He shook his head, “I’m going alone. Can’t be tied down, can I?”  
“No,” I laughed.  
“So, what’s this about that Alek guy, hmm?”   
Whoops, there it is.  
“I thought you’d leave the Lily-bashing to Marlene,” I sighed.  
“Can’t have McKinnon have all the fun, can I?”  
I moaned, “It’s just a ball. Plus, he’s hot.”  
“Just, be careful.”  
“Yes, Father dearest, I will.”  
We fell into a comfortable silence, both of us mulling the information we had obtained. At least I was. Was Jennifer trying to get under my skin? Sure, she was weird and stuff, but that didn’t scare me off. The only person trying to scare me off the Tournament was Snape, that too without rhyme or reason. And I don’t think Jennifer is the kind of person to engage in the Dark Arts like Snape. Perhaps, Sirius is just paranoid; he does have some big brother instincts.   
“Lily?” he said, snapping me out of my thoughts.  
“Sirius?” I replied.  
“I thought Ed was gay?”  
And so, we were back to the Marlene issue.   
“Oh, he is. He just needed a date for the Ball and he asked Marls, as friends.”  
“Oh, okay,” his voice took a kind-of happy note.  
“Yeah,” I smiled.  
“And, what about Diggory and McKinnon?”  
“Oh, Marlene dumped him,” I said, “He was being a complete arse to her, probably in it for the publicity.”   
“Cool,” he said. He was trying to be nonchalant, but was obviously failing.  
I smirked at him, “Worried about Marlene, hmm, Black?”  
He gave me a sideways glance, “Just wanted to know what all my friends are up to, Lily.”  
“Are you friends, though? Marlene and you?”  
He looked at me earnestly and said, “I think so. And I hope she does, too.”  
“Me too, Sirius,” I gave him half a hug, “me too.”  
We then started our ascent to the Gryffindor Common Room and walked in silence. We ran into a couple of 2nd years trying to smuggle some Fanged Frisbees into Filch’s office. I decided to turn a blind eye to that, Filch can be a total pain in the arse.  
“Lily!” someone called as soon as Sirius and I entered the Common Room.  
“Hey, Lily!” somebody else shouted.  
Before I could see who was calling, Marlene came stomping towards me, effectively blocking my view of the Common Room.   
“Hey, what’s up?”  
“What’s up?” Marlene snapped, “What’s up? When was I going to learn about this Alek shit, hmm?”  
I cringed, “Umm… soon?”  
“Soon!” It seemed like she would start hyperventilating soon.  
“McKinnon,” Sirius intervened, “breath.”  
She gave him a withering glare, enough to send a couple Slytherins back to their dingy dungeons, but it had no effect on Sirius. So instead she said in a dangerously calm voice, “Just stay out of this, Black.”  
“What if I don’t?” He said, taking a step towards her.  
She too took a step towards him, the tips of their shoes touching, forehead to forehead. “I will positively strangle you, and bury you amongst trolls.”  
The sexual tension was so obvious and yet, there they were, arguing again instead of snogging each other’s faces off..  
“Lily.” Someone said from behind me.   
I turned to see Remus, so it was him calling me earlier.  
“Remus, what’s up?” I smiled.  
The nearby row was growing in intensity and Remus pulled me aside, “Uh, the Heads have been going easy on you, you know, with the Tournament and stuff, but we haven’t done rounds in ages. And turns out they want us to do them tonight.”  
My mouth formed an ‘o’ as realization struck. Right, I was a Prefect. And Prefects have responsibilities. That I’ve been forgetting. I knew Alice should have been made Prefect instead of me.  
“Damnit, I knew I’d been forgetting something. What time is it?”  
“It’s half six right now, which means you have forty-five minutes to finish appeasing Marlene before we leave.”  
Well, shit. Marlene was sure as hell going to give me a long lecture about how disappointed she was with me for my deliberate delay in telling her about Alek. But, I really had no opportunity to do it. The week after he asked me had been a complete mess and I was really tired all through. Also, I didn’t think my actions, or rather Alek’s actions would have such consequences! I hadn’t even done much, just said ‘yes’ to a date.   
“Lily!” Marlene called again.  
I gave Remus a resigned look, “Looks like the brawl is over. It’s my turn now.”  
He gave me a sympathetic smile and reminded me to be ready at 7:15 before turning around and joining his friends near the window. I followed his progress so as to delay Marlene’s lamentation as long as I could.   
Sirius seemed to have joined them, he looked obviously angry, his jaw giving it away. Peter sat eating chocolate frogs and had probably been watching the fight. James was staring strangely before he noticed that I was watching him when his mouth twisted into a smile. I smiled back, took a deep breath and walked over to Marlene.  
“Finally,” she said, pulling me down next to her on the sofa in front of the fireplace.  
“What are you going to do to me?”   
“Nothing, nothing,” she said, crossing her hands over her chest. “I’m just going to sit here and look at you the way people look at their dogs when they poop on their owner’s favourite rug – with disappointment.”  
“Really?” I said, dubiously, “No disparaging my poor life choices? No murderous glares? No throat-slitting? Nothing?”  
She just shook her head, tightened her hold around her arms and did exactly what she said she would do. For forty-five minutes. She just watched me reproachfully. It made me feel like I’d done something drastic, like burn all her romance novels. Or worse, tear off her Quidditch posters.   
But this silent treatment made me squirm guiltily. I couldn’t meet her stern gaze at all. Maybe that’s why she decided not to scream, because she knew that this made me feel infinitely worse about the situation.   
At the mark of 7:15, I cleared my throat uneasily, “Umm, Marlene?”  
She responded with a raised eyebrow.  
“I have to meet Remus for rounds now.”  
She nodded, “Right. Okay, you can go. But know that I am very, very disappointed in you.”  
“Yes, I know,” I said, standing up.  
“Oh, and yes,” she said, suddenly smiling, “We have to talk about your dress robes for the ball, so don’t sneak off to the Kitchens after rounds!”  
“Yes, Mum.”   
I waved her goodbye before starting towards Remus and the boys. At least that was over and done with. Sirius – check, Marlene – check. I only had to endure some James, Remus and Alice before I was completely guilt-free. Or so I hope.  
“Hey, guys,” I approached the group.  
“Hi,” Peter said.  
“Lils,” James nodded, smiling.  
“James,” I bobbed my head to him, too. “Remus, you ready?”  
“Yeah,” he said, “come on.”  
We managed to manoeuvre the 6th and the 7th floor in silence. See, that’s the thing with Remus – he can read situations in a way no one else can, and so knows what conversation needs to take place and if one is even required. He’s a really private person, usually keeps to himself. I don’t think even James or Sirius or Peter know half his secrets, and they’re his best friends.   
He’s the kind of person who doesn’t need too many friends, or acquaintances. Remus is content with a few close friends – and I consider myself one of them, hopefully he does too.   
Not one for small talk, he abruptly said somewhere around the 5th floor, “So, Alexander the Durmstrang Guy, hm?”  
I started, surprised at the sudden dialogue. Nodding slightly, I said, “Yeah, I guess.”  
“Cool, cool.” He looked sideways at me and broke into a cryptic smile.   
I sighed, knowing he knew something that I didn’t. “What is it now, Lupin?”   
“Nothing, nothing,” he continued smiling.  
“Come on, I know you know something about me that I am yet to realize, can you please tell me what it is?”  
“Mhmm-hm,” he shook his head, “Nope. I want you to realize it, and when you do, I will see it on your face.”  
I scoffed, “You’re turning loopy, Remus. You’re Loopy Lupin from now on.”  
“Oh, and this is coming from Loony Lily?”  
I just laughed, and we entered one of our comfortable silences somewhere on the 3rd floor again. Rounds after that were uneventful until we stumbled across a snogging couple in one of the empty broom closets on the 2nd floor.   
“Seriously, guys? A broom closet?” I said to Zac and Alex of Ravenclaw.  
Remus nodded, “I mean, come on, you couldn’t even sneak into either of your dorms?”  
Unashamed, Zac and Alex of Ravenclaw acquiesced to their 4 o’clock detention the next day, and giggled their way back to their dormitories, probably in raptures over the prospect spending several un-supervised hours together in a Potions classroom.  
“So, Remus,” I said after another bout of silence.  
“Yes, Lily?”   
“What’s been up with you?”  
“The same that’s been up with you, I guess.”  
“Have your best friends been reprimanding you over your delay in telling them about your Yule Ball date, too?”  
He snorted, “Um, no, I don’t have such a complicated life, you see?”  
“Hmm, then how have the same things been up with the both of us?”  
“You know, school, Prefect duty, et cetera, et cetera.”  
“Right. How’s your mum been do-“  
“Remus!”  
We turned to around to the source of the shriek. Yes, it was a literal shriek. It turned out to be Amanda Finch from Ravenclaw. We’d shared plenty classes since First Year so I know her quite well. She had long raven-black hair that was pulled into a loose ponytail. The tall girl stood against a wall catching her breath. It seemed like she’d run all the way from the 7th floor to the basement to reach us.  
“Amanda?” I said to the Ravenclaw.  
“Hey,” she said, “sorry for the high-pitched whale noise, I was just trying to get your attention.”  
“Of course,” Remus said, “is something wrong?”  
“Oh, no, no. It’s just that I was up in the Common Room and Alex and Zac showed up much earlier than I’d expected them to and they told me that they’d bumped into you and I really had to talk to you and I could’ve just spoken to you tomorrow, you know, when you’re not on rounds or sleep deprived but – whoops, I’m rambling again, I’m sorry. I should just go, sorry.”  
“Hey, Amanda,” Remus interrupted before she could leave, “It’s alright, we can talk now.”  
This feels like a moment that I should intrude on. I smoothly said, “Hey, I’m just going to – uh, do something on the other side of the basement, yeah? Yeah. Alright, see you.”  
“No, Lily -” Remus called, but I turned off my hearing senses, prodding him to talk to a pretty girl.   
That’s not a bad thing to do, is it? It’s actually the good thing to do, the boy needs to get out into the dating world. And after all, what are friends for, hmm? Yes, they’re for pushing people into uncomfortable situations that will eventually turn out to be glorious situations. And I really do think talking to a pretty girl around midnight down in the basement is what Remus needs right now, what with his genetically bad immunity.  
So, I went around checking under several staircases and inside broom closets and spare rooms until I ultimately reached the Hufflepuff Common Room. And we all know what’s near the Hufflepuff Common Room, don’t we? And yes, I know Marlene told me not to, and I know too much chocolate gives me a headache but I don’t know how long Remus and Amanda are going to take and I’m only a teenage girl and heaven knows us teenage girls need our dose of chocolate here and there.   
So, I sat on the Gryffindor-equivalent table and ate the standard amount of chocolate soufflé that is expected of a teenage girl until Remus showed up half an hour later, panting. Seems like he’d run all the way here.  
“I knew you’d be here, gobbling down one of those chocolate pies,” he smiled emphatically.  
“You know me so well. But actually, it’s a soufflé, they don’t have pie today.”  
He came over and sat next to me, digging a spoon into my dessert. I could see the upward quirk of his lips, waiting to break into a full-on grin.  
“So, Loopy Lupin, why so smiley?”   
“I’m not smiley,” he said, showing me his perfected poker face.  
“Oh, please. Don’t think I missed that happy-go-lucky smile. I know I may not be the most perceptive person, but I’m not that thick.”  
He took another bite. “Could’ve fooled me.”  
I shoved him in the stomach.  
“Hey!”  
“Tell me what happened!” I prodded.  
“It was nothing.”  
“Running all the way from Ravenclaw Tower down to the dungeons to talk to someone in the middle of the night is not nothing.”  
“Yes, it is,” he took another bite.  
“And running all the way across the floor because adrenalin is rushing through you because of your recent conversation is not nothing either.”  
“Fine. It wasn’t nothing. Amanda may have asked me to the Yule Ball,” he said passively.  
“And?” I squealed.  
“And, I may have said yes.”  
“Ha! I knew you had it in you, Loopy Lupin.”  
“Thanks for having so much faith in me, Loony Lily.”  
We headed back to the Gryffindor Common Room, talking animatedly through our sugar high, getting shushed by several portraits.  
Sirius – check.  
Marlene – check.  
Remus – check.


	20. We'll See

**17th December, 1976.**

The Great Hall always hums with excitement in December, owing to Christmas and snowball fights, but in 1976, a whole new level of restlessness could be felt as one walked the halls of Hogwarts. Christmas Eve was fast approaching, and so was the most awaited night of the year - the Yule Ball. Students could be seen timidly asking, some of them  _begging_ , for a date to the dance.

Peter had been in conniptions over asking some Hufflepuff he'd had his eyes on for days. But, other than that, everyone was pretty much ready for the ball - Alek and Lily, Frank and Alice (surprise, surprise there), Marlene and Ed.

Sirius and James were going stag (no pun intended). Sirius knew well enough that he could get anyone in the school anytime he wanted - even a minute before the ball, girls would probably ditch their dates and fall into his arms anytime. As for James, he'd always wanted a particular green-eyed, red-haired somebody, and wouldn't settle for anyone else. And since they were 'mates now' he was hoping he'd at least get her to dance with him once.

Remus was going to go with Amanda Finch, who'd asked him one night during rounds.

It was getting so close to the Ball that the more desperate of the lot had asked even 3rd years to go with them - it was really quite disconcerting to see 16 year olds with 13 year olds. When even smelly  _Berger_ announced that morning at breakfast that he'd gotten a date, Peter felt compelled to gather the courage required to ask his crush out.

"Come on, Wormy!" Sirius said that day at lunch, "It's about time you do it."

"I know, I know. But I don't think I can." It looked like he was about to explode - and not only because of the 4 pies he had consumed. He would probably explode because of stress and anticipation. He'd hardly ever asked any girl out, and when he did, rejection was the only answer he'd ever gotten.

Marlene seemed to have had it with Peter's unrequited drama and she screamed, "Peter, if you don't do it, I will!"

He cringed, "Don't do that again, please? It's already happened before."

"Go on, then."

Peter took a deep breath and turned to the Hufflepuff table. Eliza's group of friends came into view, and the girl sitting next to her poked her when she saw him approach.

"Hey Eliza," he said.

"Oh, Peter! Hi!" Eliza said.

Peter considered going back to the Gryffindor table, this was ridiculous, he couldn't do this. Being a Marauder didn't mean he was good with talking to girls he'd only stared at before. But the seven unwavering pairs of eyes looking at him confidently pushed him to ask her after all.

"Yeah… well I was just wondering if…"

"Yes?" she gave him all her attention now, looking at him expectantly.

"Ifyouwouldgototheballwithmethischristmaseve?" he blurted out.

She raised her eyebrows, "I'm sorry, but I didn't catch that."

Peter felt a blush creeping up his cheeks as he tried once more, a little slowly, "I was wondering if you would like to go to the Yule Ball with me?"

Her eyes noticeably widened as she contemplated answering. Peter's hands started sweating. He almost turned around to run to the hills, but he didn't want to seem like a coward in front of his crush and her friends.

_That's it_ , he thought. _Another 30 seconds of silence and I'm saying my friends drugged me to get me here._

Fortunately, after about 28 seconds the situation set in for Eliza, and she quickly nodded, "Yes, I would love to."

They hugged and everything was fine and dandy.

"But I don't think it's enough for the ball!" Alice could be heard crying in her dorm.

Lily and James jumped at the sound. Voices carried fabulously down to the Common Room from the dorms, part of the reason  _Muffiliato_ is so widely used. That was it. Lily had to go do something about Alice and her dressing woes, she couldn't carry on studying Transfiguration like this.

"Ugh, I'm going to have to go check on that, am I not?"

James sighed, "Yup."

"Can we continue this later? I didn't get anything you said anyway."

"Sure," he laughed, "next time, we'll have to use some brain stimulating music for you to pay attention."

"Please do!" She said, turning towards the staircases.

"Alice, don't be such a drag, you know it's amazing." Marlene seemed exasperated, the  _situation_ was, but her comment did nothing but make Alice mad.

"Oh, yeah? Why would you complain? You've got the best shape and dress in school and -"

Lily marched into the dorm then, and stood between the parties, "Hey! Both of you, cut it the fuck out! You're going to wake people across the country with your screaming!"

"But-"

"Alice! You  _chose_ this dress at Hogsmeade. We all agreed that it looks lovely. What's so bothersome about it now?"

Alice almost had tears in her eyes, "It's just that I don't know if Frank will think I look good in it, but I can't show it to him. We decided that it would be a surprise."

Lily and Marlene found this argument so stupid, they were about to laugh at the ludicrosity. Lily took a deep breath before shoving Marlene to stop snickering.

She said, "Alice, that's bull and you know it. You look gorgeous even in our hideous uniform. Frank can barely look away. I think we're gonna have to pick his jaw off the floor when he sees you all dressed up. You have absolutely nothing to worry about."

"Seriously, Alice, you're being totally ridiculous," Marlene said, "Now, go eat, please? I'm starving. Plus, the Ball is days away, let's worry about it later."

"Alright. I suppose you're both right." Alice walked over to the dorm door, "Race you to the Great Hall!"

Lily was just happy she'd told everyone about her date with Alek. Not that she'd planned to at that time, but she was still relieved. She would've done it eventually anyway. Maybe a little later, but she would have.  _Yes, she would've,_  she convinced herself, staring into the Common Room fire.

The whole deal went down quite nicely, actually. Marlene didn't scream at her, James seems alright with it,  _and_ she got her dress in time. If it weren't for her friends, Lily would have delayed buying it till the last minute, ending up with a gritchy polyester fuschia something or the other.

The prospect of the ball was now really exciting. Having a dress made the event real and tangible. Lily wasn't the kind to dwell over fairytale endings and glass slippers, but now with the evening completely set up, right down to the last glass of butterbeer, she believed the night would not be anything less than Cinderella and Prince Charming's.

The only thing she was a bit tense about was James. She knew they were friends now, but she  _was_ a little taken aback when he had no reaction whatsoever when he came to know about Alek. Lily had at least expected some silent treatment from him, but he remained completely amiable throughout the exchange and after it, too. Perhaps, he'd grown out of the little crush he'd garnered for her last year. Thinking that made her a bit sad, she'll miss the exaggerated professions of unrequited love quite a bit.

_Or wait_ , she thought.  _Maybe, he's grown up a bit and decided to be a supportive friend for once._

"Lily, what you doing down here?" James's voice shook her out of her thoughts. He looked like he'd just come back from a run through the rain - shirt soaked through, hair untidier than before.

_Quite the looker_ , Lily thought, before shaking the thoughts away.

She turned and smiled at him, "Nothing really, just thinking about stuff."

"Did you find out what was wrong with Alice?" He walked over, sitting down next to her, head hanging sideways on back of the couch, eyes focused on Lily.

"Oh, yeah," she laughed, "It was so silly. She thought that Frank wouldn't think she looked good in her dress at the Ball."

"What? Has she ever even met him? He's always on about her 'pretty hair' and her 'lovely blue eyes.' It's kind of ridiculous actually."

Lily just shook her head at Alice's antics, how silly she'd been about the whole ordeal. Frank was totally besotted with her.

It suddenly struck her how much had changed that year - Alice and Frank were together. In a real relationship. Just yesterday they were finding ways to stare at each other during class in a way neither would notice. Naturally, everyone noticed.

Sirius and Marlene were, well, Sirius and Marlene. They were probably the only constant in Lily's life. But other than their tumultuous relationship, pretty much everything was different. James, for instance. He had morphed from her biggest nemesis into one of her best friends in the period of 3 months.

Remus was getting more talkative, Peter seemed  _around_. Mary was all the more aloof in 6th year. Everything had changed so rapidly, Lily couldn't even begin to remember when exactly it all happened. She could never pin down a moment when it happened, but boy, was she grateful that it did.

"Hey," James shoved her elbow.

Lily shook a bit, "Yeah, sorry, I zoned out a bit."

"Oh."

"Hey, James?"

"Yeah?"

"When did all this happen?"

He turned around completely, "When did what happen?"

"This," she gestured vaguely at the space between them.

"Honestly?" he said, "I think it's been on it's way since 4th year."

They entered into a comfortable silence, each mulling over their own thoughts. Lily wondered what he meant by that, sure he had hurt her that day in 5th year, but 4th year? She couldn't recall anything that happened in 4th year that would lead up to them being friends again.

She thought about how 5th year James would feel about Lily and Alek - he would probably steal all of Alek's clothes and give them to Hagrid's disgusting worms. She decided to ask the question that had been bugging her for the last two weeks.

"James - I, uh, just wanted to know if… you know… you were okay with Alek and the Ball and the situation. Just given our history," she said hesitantly.

James's eyes darkened as he smiled and said, "Lily, why would I have any problem with that? You like him, he seems to like you, you should have the liberty to go out with whomever you want. Plus, you're both champions, you should be together."

Lily smiled back at him, "I'm glad you think so."

"Although, Evans," he said, "I do have one request."

"And what might that be, Potter?"

"You think you could save me a dance?" he asked coyly.

"Hmm. Only if you bring your best moves."

"Ah, Evans, you wound me. I have the best moves in the entire school."

"Oh, please, I've seen you dance, and let's be honest, you're terribly long legs hinder your abilities."

"We'll see, Lils. We'll just wait and see."

**Author's Note:**

> Confused? Excited? Tell me in the comments!


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